Age of Ultron
by Mystic Lady Fae
Summary: The Avengers have reassembled, and Adena is now part of the team, with the important role of watching over her friends as they fight to protect the planet. Can she help hold them together when Tony's newest invention decides to eliminate all life on Earth? (Obviously during the Age of Ultron film, all characters included.)
1. Re-Assembling the Team

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Okay, here's my version of _**Avengers: Age of Ultron**_ , with Adena tossed in (of course). Enjoy, and please don't forget to review! Thanks!

 **Chapter 1: Re-Assembling the Team :**

After Anna and Bucky went off to live in a top-secret location, life became much calmer for me and Steve.

For a while, the two of us lived a fairly normal life. We had a nice apartment in a suburb outside of Washington D.C., close to a Stark Industries building where Steve continued to work in security for Tony. Steve's job, however, had changed: he and Sam were now providing physical training to company guards. Both of them liked the challenge of teaching others to defend themselves, and being physically active all day was something Steve enjoyed.

As for me, I was officially hired on as an assistant to Pepper Potts, based in the Washington D.C. location. On the occasion Pepper headed out to visit, I was latched to her side, helping her with anything she needed, and running errands. But when she wasn't here, I had the luxury of sitting in a nice, quiet office, occasionally filing paperwork and sending out documents to whomever Pepper needed me to.

As boring as this life might seem, Steve and I enjoyed it immensely. We traveled to and from work together, and talked about our days during the ride home, or over dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Best of all, Steve and I kept normal work days and hours, spending our free time with one another, or with Sam.

Then, out of the blue, everything changed.

* * *

During a relatively peaceful weekend, Tony called me on JT, asking that Steve and I travel to Stark Tower in New York. Apparently, he had something huge that he wanted to talk to us about, and it was super-important that he had our opinion on it.

Since it had been a long time since we'd hung out together, Steve and I agreed to his request without question. From Washington, Steve and I jumped on a corporate plane to New York, then a company limo to Stark Tower. We then took the elevator up to Tony and Pepper's private floors, where I was surprised to find a group of men in suits leaving as we arrived. After a round of friendly greetings with him and Pepper, Tony sat us down on a set of couches, but refused to talk business with us until after we were served a sumptuous meal that had been waiting for us.

Once we'd eaten a huge lunch from one of the best French restaurants in the city, Tony decided to spill out his idea to us.

"I want to put the Avengers back together," he flat out told us, as he casually leaned back in a chair. "I'm going to make them a sort of police or guard force for the world, one that will go out and stop the bad guys, like HYDRA, from doing some nasty stuff to innocent people."

Needless to say, Steve and I were speechless. Since when had Tony Stark become the guy who wanted to protect the world?

Okay, to be fair, Tony had done a wonderful thing when he saved the planet from the space invasion using a nuclear weapon. But in the time since then, that sort of thing really hadn't been on his mind. I know he'd had some sort of incident years ago with The Mandarin, but other than that, he'd been busy tinkering on a new ARC reactor as part of his 'green energy' initiative. But where had he suddenly gotten the urge to be Iron Man full-time?

"Why the change?" I asked him, both suspicious and curious about his idea.

Tony shrugged. "SHIELD is gone," he simply said, as though that explained everything.

Well, it kind of did. SHIELD had been operating quietly, protecting the world in secret, for a long time. Now that it had been 'disbanded' (at least as far as the public knew), the world needed someone (or something) standing between it and all the nasty bad guys out there.

I wanted to remind him that many countries around the world had secret government agencies that handled that sort of thing, but stopped myself as I really thought about it. It was hard enough to get two different agencies from one country to work together –getting two countries, even friendly ones, to work together to fight bad guys took a lot of political talk and years of organization. Even then, there was no guarantee that the mission itself would even happen.

The Avengers, as Tony was thinking of them, would travel the globe, putting down violent rebellions and preventing needless wars that threatened the lives of innocents. They would also work to counter the actions of terrorists and their organizations, taking them down before they grew too large for anyone to handle.

"We'll also go after HYDRA, of course," Tony said, sipping his scotch. "Since they had their fingers in a lot of SHIELD's scientifically developed pies, HYDRA probably has a lot of stuff that they shouldn't."

He obviously meant weapons and other items that should _not_ be in the hands of crazy, evil people.

"So you want to get the band back together," I said, half teasing. "How are you going to do it?"

Tony grinned at me. "Actually, _you're_ going to do it."

* * *

I had wanted to punch him in the face for telling me that, but after a strong drink or two, I was willing to hear the man out.

"Okay, the main reason I want you to call them: because _everyone_ in the group likes you," Tony said, as he tried buttering me up. "You're friends with them because you've spent time with them. Plus, you've earned their respect, and because of that, they'll be willing to listen to what you have to say."

He paused a second in thought. "The only exception might be Thor, since we've only seen him on missions to rescue you from Loki, but I think you can win him over pretty fast."

I shivered at the thought of Loki, and was glad when Steve put an arm around me. My encounters with Thor's evil brother may have been a couple years ago, but that didn't mean I liked thinking about it. Stuff like that tends to linger, no matter how much time passes.

Nevertheless, I knew Tony was right about my being friends (or at least acquaintances) with almost everyone in the Avengers group.

Natasha was someone I considered a best friend (along with Pepper), and as a favor to me, she'd always done her best to look after Steve during their missions for SHIELD. Before the downfall of SHIELD and Steve's search for Bucky, Natasha and I would hang out together once or twice a week. It was fun, and she often told me that she liked spending time together. Natasha also confessed that, as a spy and assassin, she'd never really allowed herself to form connections with anyone. Only now was she allowing herself the luxury of being around someone she considered a trusted female friend.

I wasn't so sure about calling the others 'friends,' though. I didn't know Clint Barton too well, but he was a nice guy, and had even given me his number, in case I needed anything. Bruce was like a teddy bear (when he wasn't angry, huge and green), and counted me as a friend he could turn to if he needed to talk with someone. Thor had been nice to me after the Battle of New York, as well as the other times he'd had to save me from Loki, but I wasn't ready to call us 'buddies' yet.

After a long talk with Steve and Pepper, I agreed that it might be best for me to contact everybody via JT, and convince them to travel to Stark Tower.

For the most part, it wasn't hard. I had almost everyone's contact info already, and within 24-hours, I had them agreeing to meet. Thor was the only one I'd had no idea how to contact, so I asked Natasha to pull a few strings and see if she could figure out a way to get him on the phone to talk with me.

It took a little while, but Natasha was very efficient. She soon sent me the number of a woman, Dr. Jane Foster, and a minute after that, I had Dr. Foster on the phone with me. Once she found out I was Captain America's wife, Dr. Foster was more than willing to let me talk with Thor.

I can honestly say that it was one of the strangest conversations I'd ever had. Apparently they don't have cell phones on Asgard, so it took a bit of coaching from Jane (as she asked me to call her) to get Thor to figure out how to use the phone right.

After about half an hour, I had Thor reluctantly agreeing to meet with us in New York. He didn't want to leave Jane, but since I told him it was rather important, he was willing to come to Stark Tower for just a few days. By then, I had figured out that he was smitten with Jane, and promised to get him back to her as soon as possible.

He appreciated that, but it was a little nerve-wracking, since I knew he was going to hold me to that promise –probably with the business end of his lightning-hammer aimed at my head.

* * *

When Earth's Mightiest Heroes get together, it's a huge thing –almost literally. And for this, Tony had spared no expense.

But first, a few major details about how things currently were with the Tower, which Tony spent a full day giving me and Steve a tour of while we waited for the other Avengers to show up.

After the Battle of New York, Tony had drastically reconstructed Stark Tower, changing the layout of the building entirely. Instead of just rooms for him and Pepper at the top of the building, with the usual sorts of offices and departments below, anything having to do with Stark Industries had been taken out and moved to another Stark building several blocks away.

Now, most of the Tower was absolutely dedicated to everything having to do with the Avengers. At least seven levels of the building were now living suites, with each suite taking up an entire floor. The layouts of the suites were nearly identical: each had their own living room, kitchen, two bathrooms, a huge master bedroom, plenty of closet space, and laundry rooms. They also had the best electronics and finest furniture materials on the market.

Far above the bedrooms was a hangar for several good-sized aircrafts. As a result, the levels above and below it had been made with soundproof materials, so that people wouldn't be bothered by the comings and goings from the hangar.

In addition to living space and the hangar, there was a large gym; three levels that were laboratories exclusively for Bruce and Tony to play in and develop Avengers gear; and a huge open area that could be used as either a living room (that happened to be the size of a house), or a fantastic party area, with a great view of New York City right out the immense floor-to-ceiling windows.

And those were only the parts that were completed. Tony had a bunch of other ideas for the Tower, and once the others had decided to go along with his endeavors, he was going to start construction on those ideas immediately.

Right now, his main plan was for the lower two-thirds of the Tower to consist of a bustling hub of operatives, working with the Avengers to protect the world. These people would function under the watchful eye of Maria Hill. I had suggested to Tony that, given her past experience with SHIELD, Maria could best act as our head of operations and chief liaison with world governments.

As we waited for the other Avengers to arrive, I called up Maria and explained Tony's ideas over the phone, as well as my own thought of her being the center of our own version of SHIELD. She was intrigued, of course, and after thinking about it for a few minutes, she agreed to take on the task.

Maria then explained to me that she had many connections to former SHIELD agents, most of whom had lost their jobs and been blacklisted, making them impossible to be considered as potential employees for other government agents. Maria knew that we needed people, and she knew some of the best in the business.

Tony and Steve weren't sure about having actual SHIELD agents (even former ones) in the Tower, but I felt that, if they were vetted by Maria, that was good enough for me.

"Besides," I told them, "they already know how to do all this stuff. It would save a huge amount of time doing background checks, training, and swearing everyone to secrecy over and over again."

They agreed, and we began discussing the different things these people would do. Tony decided that, under Maria, these specialists in intelligence, weapons and technology would gather information on potential missions, as well as work on research-and-development, mostly for weaponry and other tools the Avengers could use when out in the field.

I guess, when you really thought about it, we were, ironically, forming our own SHIELD-type team, using former SHIELD agents. It might have been funny, if the need for them wasn't so serious.

While Tony, Steve and I talked, I realized that Tony had probably wanted to put The Avengers together for a long time, but hadn't had the right moment to do so. Now that SHIELD was gone, he had his chance.

* * *

For the arrival of his fellow Avengers, Tony wanted to go all-out to get the best of everything, from food to bedsheets, so that everyone could be comfortable during their stay at his place. The problem was: he needed my help to do it (again).

Fortunately, after being an assistant to Pepper, as well as having JT and Jarvis along to help, I was able to obtain everything Tony wanted, and in a short amount of time. It also helped that I had Tony's credit card in my hand, to pay for all of it.

Within five days, the other Avengers had gathered at Stark Tower, courtesy of Tony's private jets. Everyone looked a bit puzzled, though for some reason, Barton looked grumpy at having been pulled away from something he felt was important.

"So, what's the deal?" Barton asked, leaning back in a chair with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

Standing up, Tony took a deep breath, but was stopped by Natasha. "No, Adena called us here. I want to hear from _her_ what this is about."

Tony looked upset at being robbed of the spotlight, but he motioned for me to go ahead. Steve gave me an encouraging look as I rose to my feet and took a shaky breath.

"Okay, here goes," I said, clasping my hands together before me. "Tony wants to put the Avengers together as a kind of world task force, somewhat taking the place of SHIELD. For the most part, you'll be dealing with terrorists, extremely dangerous weapons dealers, and other potentially deadly individuals that the usual government agents can't handle."

I took another deep breath. "You'll also be dealing with HYDRA. Since SHIELD fell and everyone found out that not only does HYDRA exist, but it's been working inside of SHIELD all along, Tony figured out that HYDRA probably has a lot of stuff that it shouldn't."

"Namely stuff that SHIELD came up with to fight bad guys," Tony chimed in, getting up from his seat and motioning for me to sit down. "I had a chat just this morning with Maria Hill, who now works as our public liaison, and she believes that HYDRA has a bunch of alien weapons leftover from their attack on New York –mostly stuff that SHIELD gathered after the battle."

He paused. "She also thinks that they might have Loki's scepter."

 _That_ certainly shocked everyone, including me. I hadn't really thought about the scepter since Thor had hauled Loki away to Asgard after the Invasion, and part of me thought it was there, locked away someplace safe, not still on Earth.

"So, what do you say?" Tony pressed, when the air had been silent for several minutes. "I'm not asking you guys to do this full-time. It'll mostly be an on-call thing –we'll go wherever we're needed, kick butt, then head back to our lives. We'll also only handle large stuff, like HYDRA bases and whatever government agencies can't deal with on their own."

"Who'll be paying for all of this?" Barton asked. "I mean, we do have to be paid something for risking our lives."

Tony shrugged. "In case you can't tell, I'm rich." He grinned at me as I rolled my eyes at him. "I've also got living space set up for everyone here, in case you want to stay a bit after each mission, and I'm working on having some super-fast jets made for our use. Fighting gear can be made according to your specifications, too; just give me the specs, and I can have it done for you in a week or two."

Bruce was startled. "That's very generous, Tony. I wasn't expecting that."

Tony shrugged again. "The world is still a mess out there. If there's a way for us to help fix it, or make it a better place, I think we should do it."

The others nodded in agreement, and I knew that Tony would get his wish: The Avengers had assembled once more.

* * *

Unfortunately, Tony hadn't really thought the whole thing through, so it was up to me to help organize all of the "non-important stuff" that Tony didn't like thinking about.

First was the living space Tony had talked about. With the exception of Steve and myself, none of the others really wanted to permanently set up shop in Avengers Tower (as we were now calling it), but I still wanted them to choose a suite they could call their own. It would make things easier, so that no one accidentally ended up in a place someone else had claim to.

Somehow, Steve and I were given first pick of the suites. Steve guessed it was because we were the only married couple, but I felt it might be because most of the organizing was being shoved onto my shoulders, so the others felt I deserved first dibs. Either way, it was to our benefit, so we decided on a room with a fantastic view of the city, and far enough away from the aircraft hanger and the top levels to be a nice, quiet haven.

The others took a tour of the rooms, and each chose whichever one they thought best fit their needs. Thor chose one with easy access to the sky, so that he could fly back to Jane whenever he wanted, and Natasha and Barton all claimed suites close to the gym.

Bruce was the only one who had a room entirely without windows; the city was too busy for him, even at night. He wanted peace and quiet when he finally managed to tear himself away from whatever experiment or science thing he was working on with Tony.

With the sleeping arrangements done, I made a few calls to Maria Hill, who I highly suspected had Nick Fury's number. I flat-out told her to inform Fury about our endeavors, so that he'd know what we were up to, but that no one was to let the other Avengers know Fury was still alive. Steve, Natasha and I were, as far as I knew, the only ones Fury had trusted with the truth, and he probably wanted it to stay that way.

I also asked her to place a call to Phil Coulson, to let him know what was happening, too. I knew that he had to be busy patching together an actual SHIELD agency together (or forming a new one from the ground up), but he really needed to know about what we were planning to do. Even though the newly re-forming SHIELD was in its infant stages, it never hurt to have the head of a secret organization on speed-dial, in case we needed back-up or someone to cover-up something the team did on their missions.

Phil was actually nice enough to e-mail me a message, saying that he trusted us to do what was best, but if we needed anything from him, he wanted me or Steve to be the one to contact him. His note said something along the lines of, "you have more common sense than certain members of the Avengers; I trust you to know when to call me."

Once most of the things had been organized, and the team was ready to get the whole venture started, Tony ordered his construction team to Stark Tower, so that it could be made over.

* * *

I had to admit, most of Tony's ideas for Avengers Tower were pretty impressive.

Besides the living areas and huge lab for him and Bruce to test and build stuff in, Tony's work crew put in some extremely interesting additions.

One of the first things created was a medical area, fully stocked with the best equipment that could be bought. I immediately felt relieved, knowing that if one of my friends got hurt, we had a way of helping them recover.

Next, Tony put in a conveyor-type building system to construct his Iron Man suits, and to put together a group of robot-type machines he called The Iron Legion. I thought that these were some sort of army, but Tony assured me they were strictly to deal with innocent civilians.

"They'll keep people back from the fight, out of danger, and try to escort people away if they get too close," he said with a proud smile. "And if the robots get broken, no worries –I can build more."

The Quinjets were next. Maria Hill provided the basic plans for the ones that SHIELD had used, but Tony took them to another level. He installed hidden refrigerators for food and drinks, as well as medical supplies that had to be kept at certain temperatures. Hidden in the walls were small TV screens, for in-flight entertainment, and commercial-free radio. Really, they were more like private planes than jets meant to carry superheroes around the world.

Since I was far more practical, I suggested that some hide-away bedframes be installed on the jets, so that passengers could sleep during flights, or lie down and get medical treatment if they were wounded. Tony liked my idea, and made sure that the 'bunk beds,' as he called them, were added. They would be hidden in the ceiling of the jet, and a simple push of a button would bring down two beds, one on top of the other. Only two sets of beds could fit on each jet, but it would free up a bit of space on the floor, for the unfortunate few who wanted to lie down but couldn't claim a bed.

The biggest change, however, was the training area. All the Avengers, plus Jarvis, got together, and designed a facility where team members could practice all kinds of ways to (as Tony put it) hurt or kill people. There were the usual dummies and punching bags, rope walls, training bars and weights, as well as targets for arrow and guns, but Tony and Bruce took it one step further.

To help their friends, the two tech geniuses somehow managed to design a holographic room in which fake opponents would attack, and the walls would either shoot blunted bullets, or high-pressured air in pin-point precision, so that it felt as though the training Avenger were actually being under attack. Steve wasn't sure he liked it, but Natasha and Barton thought it was pretty fun to practice in. There was also an observation area, where we could watch but not be visible.

The final and most significant thing about Avengers Tower was Jarvis.

Somehow, Tony had expanded his parameters, so Jarvis was much more powerful than he'd ever been before. As Steve put it, Jarvis was now our "first line of defense." If there was an intruder in the Tower, Jarvis would know and block their way, or alert the team. If the Avengers needed backup or intel of some kind during a mission, Jarvis would provide it via a specially created satellite hovering over the planet. I have no idea how the hell Tony managed to build and launch such a huge thing without attracting attention, but given that it was Tony, I shouldn't have wasted time wondering.

Anyway, there was now a Stark satellite orbiting the planet, which now served Jarvis as almost a second home. Using the numerous cameras and other powerful tech Tony had installed, Jarvis was able to hone in and observe the Avengers' missions, and provide any sort of information or aid they needed instantaneously.

Then there was JT, who also got an upgrade, but only for one reason: The Avengers had decided to make me an honorary team member.

* * *

If the Avengers had asked me to join them three or four years ago, I'd have freaked out and run screaming out of the room.

But now, after everything Steve and I had been through, it felt sort of right. Besides, I wanted to be useful, and since I couldn't go into the field, everyone decided I would be the one keeping an eye on the team from Avengers Tower. My job would be monitoring them during their more crucial missions, calling in medical or tactical aid when needed, and waiting for them when they came back.

Some would turn up their noses or throw a fit at being the team's 'welcome home' committee, but I didn't mind. As long as there was some way to help them, without actually getting in their way, I was happy.

I wouldn't even be alone, either, because of JT.

Ever since I'd first met the group, my handy little smartphone/computer had always been by my side. JT always had great advice, answers to any questions I had, and he arranged all sorts of things when I was too busy to do them myself. Like Jarvis, JT was my own electronic assistant, and I was always grateful to have him there. I actually considered him my friend, and told him so, which he seemed to appreciate.

Now that I was going to support the Avengers in any way I could, JT was going to be supporting _me_. To make things easier, Tony had taken what he'd done to Jarvis and passed it on to JT, though in a more limited sense.

"Jarvis is going to be a larger, more global presence," Tony explained, with me hovering anxiously nearby as he tinkered on my pocket-computer companion. "JT is more localized. Your little computer will be entirely yours, and in its own separate server from Jarvis's, but he'll still be able to link in with Jarvis, if needed. In other words, JT will still be based in the portable device I made for him, but he can electronically pop from here to the Tower's systems and back again, like you would enter and leave a room or a building."

I rather liked the idea, as did JT. JT explained to me that he liked being useful, just like I did, and was eager to be more mobile, rather than be confined to one device. He also claimed it would be easier to keep me safe, in the event that Jarvis had to focus on The Avengers and JT had to be the one to keep an eye on me in an emergency.

And so, armed and prepared to fight, the assembled Avengers team was ready to take on whatever it was the world had to throw at them.

* * *

AN: Okay, I admit to borrowing the training room idea from the Hunger Games second film. You have to admit that it was pretty cool in that movie, and I figured that the Avengers would have something like that in their training facility, to keep themselves in shape.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review!


	2. Life in the Spotlight

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner; I caught a nasty stomach bug and couldn't find the strength to post. But here is the next chapter, though there's really not much action. It's mostly about a day in the life of Adena, with a few familiar faces thrown in. Call it a ' _calm before the storm_ ' chapter, if you will. Anyway, please enjoy, and don't forget to review. Thanks!

 **Chapter 2: Life in the Spotlight :**

 _Several Months Later_ :

"A world of caution, Miss," JT said into the wireless earpiece I had on. "There are reporters outside the apartment's main entrance, as well as Avengers Tower."

Sighing, I straightened my jacket and shook my head. "Okay; I'll let my guys know. Thanks, JT."

"A pleasure, Miss," he replied.

I shook my head and smiled, amused that JT still called me 'Miss,' even though Steve and I had been married for so long. I kind of liked it, though; something about the way British accents made the word sound was appealing to me, and being called "ma'am," or "Madam" wasn't nearly as good on my eardrums.

Slipping out the door, I texted Steve and Sam about the reporters' locations, and headed for the backdoors of the apartment complex. ' _Honestly, I don't know why we keep this apartment when Avengers Tower has much better security measures_.'

Not long after Steve and I had moved from Washington to Avengers Tower, Tony had decided to spring another surprise on us. He had decided that, as a married couple, Steve and I needed our own apartment outside the Tower –for "privacy reasons," he said. It was a thoughtful gesture, and one that we appreciated –at least a first.

But as much as we liked having a place away from the bustling Tower, it really was a lot harder slipping in and out of the apartment building. Now that the Avengers were operating rather openly, the public seemed to hunger for any kind of image, news story, or interview that they could find, and they'd do anything to get it. We didn't have SHIELD protecting us anymore, and even though Tony offered to hire a security detail for us, Steve and I decided that would be even more conspicuous for us, and turned it down.

That not only made things more difficult for us, but also for Sam.

Outside the backdoor entrance to the building, Sam waited in a sleek, dark blue car with tinted windows. It had been a recent gift to me and Steve from Tony, and my very awesome friend and bodyguard got a kick out of the horsepower it had when he drove me places.

Yup, Sam was my new bodyguard (though it really wasn't my idea).

The reason was this: Not long after the Avengers had decided to start up again, Tony and Steve had gotten the thought of having some 'back-up' team members. These people weren't officially Avengers; they were more like a " _in case of emergency, break glass_ " sort of thing.

Privately, Steve had told me that he wanted to ask Bucky to join, but I'd talked him out of it. The former Winter Soldier was still in a delicate place, even after all the good Anna had done with him, and Bucky just wasn't ready to dive headfirst into battlefields just yet. He needed more time to find out who he was, and I had to convince Steve that it was better if we left him alone.

But even without Bucky, the Avengers had two very helpful guys to call on.

Tony's friend, Lt. Rhodes (a.k.a.: War Machine), had been added to the Avengers' emergency contact roster, though he could only join them if his schedule allowed him. Rhodes did still have a position in the military, and considering how chaotic things were after HYDRA's coming out, he was very busy directing Air Force movements against them.

Of course, Sam had immediately been asked by Steve to act as one of those part-time members, and he'd accepted without question. Tony had even made a better flight suit, with some pretty awesome goggles that would make it easier on him to track bad guys on the ground, and hone in on a safe place to land in an emergency.

But on the days when he wasn't called in by the Avengers, Sam was my official bodyguard, keeping an eye on me whenever Steve was away. Sam even had an apartment near ours, and kept our car in his possession, so that he could drop me off and act as a diversion, if people tried following me. I hadn't wanted a bodyguard, but it made Steve happy, knowing we had someone trustworthy looking after me when he out saving the world.

"Hey, Dee," Sam said cheerfully as I got into the car. "Reporters out to get a piece of you again?"

I sighed and buckled in as he pulled the car out into the street. "Ever since the team started up, it seems that all reporters want to do is put their noses in our business," I complained.

Sam halted at a stop light and glanced over at me, a smile pulling his mouth up slightly. "And your family? How are they handling two of you girls associating with heroes and on-the-run former HYDRA assassins?"

Reaching over, I smacked him in the shoulder. "Anna's family doesn't know a thing about her and Bucky, thank you very much. They think she's still working in a nice government job, and that she's getting along alright. She sends them an occasional e-mail and calls them, but I'm the only one getting anything truthful out of her."

But even Anna's messages to me were rather short on details. She kept me posted on her relationship with Bucky (which was going well), and she was happy with how things were progressing for him. With a gentle, but firm hand guiding him, Bucky was starting to adjust and "fit in" to life. I was glad that both of them were happy, but I still worried about Anna. Even after all the time he spent with my cousin, Bucky's Winter Soldier persona still lingered just below the surface. It wouldn't take much for him to snap, like he had when Anna had been kidnapped by HYDRA all those months ago.

' _But they're safe, and Phil has some of his best people keeping an eye on them_ ,' I reminded myself. It was comforting, knowing that she was watched over, but I still worried.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the luxury of having the new version of SHIELD watching over me. I had the freaking Avengers (and Sam) keeping their eyes on me whenever possible.

However, even The Avengers couldn't protect me from my family and their efforts to poke their noses into my life. Every other week, I had an aunt, uncle, cousin, or even my parents or brother e-mailing me, asking all sorts of questions and wanting to know what, exactly, I was doing for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Mom and Dad specifically demanded that I stay out of danger, and that I was not to go within a thousand miles of an Avenger battle, no matter what.

For the most part, JT and I were able to toss together a generic reply to my family's inquiries. The message specifically said that I wasn't going to spill any secrets, and that if they valued my life, they wouldn't go around telling everyone that I was associated with The Avengers. I could trust them to keep their mouths closed, for the most part, but it was good to remind everyone that one slip of the tongue could get me killed.

Not that I anticipated that sort of thing really happening, but that was why I had Sam whenever I went out in public. People knew who I was: Adena Rogers, wife of Steve Rogers, a.k.a.: Captain America. Reporters still wanted inside scoops on our lives, and the tabloids specifically sent requests for interviews, probably so they could ask about our love-life (which really was none of their business). JT effectively deleted those requests, but that didn't stop the vultures from camping out by the Tower and our apartment.

Fans and haters were just as bad as the reporters, if not worse. There were hundreds of letters arriving every week, and not all of them were for The Avengers. I got messages, too; some fan-mail and some hate-mail, and all of them sorted by a floor full of employees specifically hired to go through all of the mail every day.

The letters from fans praised me for "sticking by my man," and for supporting a fantastic soldier/fighter who was risking his life to protect the planet. The die-hard romantics said my marriage to Steve was "inspiring," because of everything I'd given up in order to be with him. While I had given up any chance of a 'normalcy,' including the chance to visit my family whenever I wanted, it felt good knowing that there were people out there who understood that aspect of my life.

The 'haters' were a harder bunch to deal with. Some asked what business was it for the Avengers to go around fighting terrorists, flat out declaring that that sort of thing should be left up to the governments of the countries those criminals were functioning in. Others called me an attention hog, implying that my marriage to Steve was a sham and that I only wanted the glory that came with being his wife.

The funnier letters were from the people who hated and judged me, claiming I was a gold-digger. Those letters only made me laugh, because if they knew that Steve didn't get a paycheck for saving the world, only for being a Stark Industries employee, they'd see things differently. Steve got the same amount of money that any other head security officer did –Tony didn't give him much preferential treatment in that regard. It wasn't as though we were rolling around in millions, since the world's governments weren't paying The Avengers a dime when it came to dealing with smugglers of drugs, weapons, and illegal slaves.

But the letters that got me were from the "crazy" haters and fans. There was a list being kept by Maria Hill's people, and whenever someone sent in a voodoo doll, a bloody picture (literally covered in some type of animal blood), or a weird cut-out of the team or myself with disturbing things done to it, the sender's name was added to the list, then sent over to Richard Cooper and Sharon Carter at the CIA.

Yes, I said Sharon Carter. After years of intense therapy, and working through her issues and her exposure to Loki's mind tampering, Phil had recently approved her being discharged from the psychiatric facility she had been admitted to. She had also been vetted by numerous government agencies, and after a trial run, had been allowed to join a specific branch of the CIA under Richard Cooper's supervision. It was ironic, that she was now chasing down people with serious obsessions in regards to The Avengers, but Richie told me that she was doing well, and rather liked her work.

"She's using her own personal experiences and applying them to her line of work," he told me over the phone once. "And she's a nice person, and a great agent. We make a good team."

I highly suspected them of being attracted to one another, but said nothing to anyone about it. If it happened, good for them; if nothing came of it, then there was nothing to worry about.

"So, where are we off to, Dee?" Sam asked, snapping me back to the present.

I sighed. "I was hoping to head someplace quiet for coffee, then to a park to walk around and take in some fresh air."

He chuckled. "The air not good enough for you in Avengers Tower?"

Again, I smacked him. "The air there is fine; I just want to smell flowers and trees, rather than over-purified air. Tony hates getting one speck of dust on his precious suits."

Sam laughed again and nodded his understanding. "Okay, coffee and a park it is."

I laughed and promised as I leaned back in my seat and popped the window open. With the wind blowing my hair and on my face, I closed my eyes and relaxed. It would probably the only chance I would get –my days were unpredictable; I never knew if I was going to have a chaotic day, a bland one, or a day chained to a high-tech desk in Avengers Tower, looking into something that the team needed me to.

' _So I'll just take advantage of the quiet while I can_ ,' I thought, smiling as Sam turned a soft song on the radio.

* * *

Alas, my day did not go as planned.

I was able to get a hot cocoa for myself, and coffee for Sam. But as we headed into a park, I found myself mobbed by a group of children at a birthday party.

The reason for this was Sam's fault, as he'd had the brilliant idea that I needed some time on a swing or a teeter-totter, and suggested we go to a park with a playground. Since I was always up for some time on a swing, I agreed. Thanks to JT, we found one close to where we were, and after parking the car in the shade of some trees, we headed to the playground.

Unfortunately, there was a birthday party going on, and some of the older kids recognized me from the recently added photos to the Captain America Smithsonian exhibit.

Yes, my picture had been added to the exhibit. I hadn't wanted it to happen, but the curators there insisted that I was a vital part of the Captain's life, and they felt I deserved my own section of it. Since I really didn't want a huge wall of pictures dedicated to me, I managed to whittle things down to a few photos and a short biography (without naming anyone in my family) on a back wall somewhere. But my face was still there for the world to see, and people did tend to recognize me when I went out in public.

Today, I was recognized and mobbed by the birthday boy, who was having an Avengers-themed party. The boy was clearly a fan of Captain America, and had donned a costume in the image of his hero. Needless to say, he was excited to have Mrs. Captain America at his birthday.

I found myself invited by the parents to stay, and was plied with cake, soda, burgers, and all other kinds of food while both parents and kids hurled questions at me.

Now, I hated dealing with reporters –they're pushy, loud, aggressive, and most only wanted a scoop, not caring how they got it. Some of the less ethical ones tended to twist words and phrases in their articles, and that only pissed me off (which only made an even bigger scoop for them).

Kids, however, are mostly innocent, and only ask questions because they're genuinely curious and want to know the answer. I was happy to tell them that one of Steve's favorite foods was pizza (which was one of the best things about New York); that Tony had a _lot_ of fancy sports cars; and that green really wasn't the Hulk's favorite color –that's just how he looked when he was angry.

There were a few little girls there, and each of them asked if I was scared of The Hulk, because he was big and mean. I assured them that the Hulk was my friend, and that he only scared me when he was upset. I also told them that he never hurt me, and always tried to protect me and keep me safe.

"I'll bet Captain America does the same thing," boasted Trevor, the birthday boy.

I smiled and reached out to pat him on the shoulder. "He does. He's a very good, very brave man."

Proudly showing his plastic shield, Trevor rallied together his group of 'fellow heroes' to do battle with an invisible enemy army. The girls who were attending weren't all dressed as Black Widow; I saw a female Thor, and one Hawkeye, as well. Most of the adults trailed behind the battling children, to make sure no one got seriously hurt, but a handful stayed behind to watch the food and presents.

A couple of the moms came to sit with me while Sam hovered nearby.

"I don't think I could ever get used to have someone hover over me like that," one of the moms commented, sneaking a glance over at him.

"Like the president's family or something," agreed another woman, her eyes looking around as though she feared assassins would pop out of the play structures.

I shrugged. "I'm not happy about it, either, but the group thinks it necessary. And he's a great guy, so it's not too difficult for me."

Sam gave me a mock glare as he came over to offer me a hand. "Time to go," he said, jerking his head towards the car. "It's getting late."

It really wasn't, but we both knew that things were starting to get uncomfortable for us adults. When he noticed us leaving, Trevor somehow managed to tear himself away from his friends and came to offer us a couple gift bags. I hadn't wanted to deprive any of the kids of their treats, but Trevor insisted.

After accepting my goodie bag, I asked Trevor if I could take a photo of him and his friends, to show the actual Avengers. Excited at the idea, the kids all gathered around and struck their best superhero poses as I snapped a dozen pictures. I then politely thanked everyone, and waved goodbye as Sam led me to the car.

"JT, remind me to show the pictures to the team when we get back," I said as we headed out.

"Yes, Miss," he affirmed. "I have also just received word from Jarvis. They will be returning late this evening, and Captain Rogers asks that you not wait up for him."

Yeah, right! Steve knew I'd wait all night if I had to. Whether he liked it or not, I was going to be waiting in the landing bay as the jet came in, just like I always was.

Beside me, Sam sighed. "Looks like a long night for the two of us, huh? Is it going to be pizza, Chinese, or sushi? And no, I'm not watching one of those chick-flick movies with you _again_."

* * *

Ever since Tony had started this whole venture, I had sort of become the official "welcome home" committee.

Most would see it as a degrading position, but I rather enjoyed it. I might not have special powers like Thor or the Hulk, or the ability to kick ass like Natasha, but I could make damn sure the others were welcomed when they got back, and comfortable while they were here. After risking their lives to help others, it was the least I could do for them.

Personally, I didn't mind the job, and the others seemed to appreciate it, even though they sometimes came home so drained that they couldn't even manage a smile. Yet whenever they saw me waiting for them, I could see relief and gratitude on their faces, and that made it worthwhile for me.

"But it isn't the creature comforts that we really need, either, Adena," Natasha told me once, after a particularly nasty mission. "It's you. You're always there with a sympathetic look on your face, a smile, and a hug. Sure, we sometimes need stitches or an IV bag, but having you there is a comfort to all of us."

Then she added, "Especially Steve."

Well, Steve was a given –like most affectionate husbands, he was always glad to see me when he got home. Granted, he wasn't always able to greet me with a smile, but looking into his eyes, I knew his seeing me there, waiting after each mission, lifted a burden off his shoulders.

Anyway, after our visit to the park, Sam and I arrived back at the Tower a little after noon. While Sam went to make plans for our evening in, I went to check and see if anything had come up. The team was out on a mission in South America, dealing with some arms smugglers, and Maria Hill was assisting from her office, so it was my job to see if anything important popped up.

As I activated JT, I was surprised when he told me about a message waiting on the special communication system that Tony had designed. Very few people outside the team knew about this particular line, so I knew it had to be important and an emergency. When I saw that the caller ID had Director Coulson's name, my gut dropped. Phil never called unless it was super-important.

Lucky for me, there were computer tablets tucked in various areas around the Tower, in case no one wanted to run around searching for one during an emergency. I retrieved a tablet from a wall panel on my way to the lounge at the top of the Tower and told JT to take notes for me as I listened.

After touching the screen and entering my password and thumbprint, Phil's face filled the monitor, his customary smooth, friendly smile on his face as he spoke.

"Hi everyone," he said, nodding at the camera that was focused on him. "I would try and give you the following information in person, but I know that Adena's going to be all over this sooner than anyone, so this is a lot faster."

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Phil really did know me too well.

"Anyway, I wanted you guys to know that we found some rather interesting HYDRA intel," he said. "Some of our sources say that there's a HYDRA base set up in an old castle up in the mountains of Sokovia."

As much as I tried to avoid watching the news on TV (most of which was bad), it was hard to ignore the troubles of this particular nation. Sokovia was known for being a war-torn country –there were various groups that wanted control of it, and not all of them were Sokovian. Barely a month or two went by before the news channels had coverage of some fight or huge battle going on there, and it always consisted of three things: different, militant groups; the rag-tag army of Sokovia; and whatever political party was looking to next invade or control the nation.

' _With all the chaos going on over there, it's no wonder HYDRA chose to hide out there_.'

"We're thinking that HYDRA chose the location because it's such a mess over there," Phil said, echoing my thoughts. "It sort of hides them behind everything that's happening."

He paused, as though waiting for whoever was watching this message to finish taking notes. "But that's not the big issue here. Word is that HYDRA has something extremely important in its clutches, something we've all had dealings with before. We believe they have Loki's scepter, and have been experimenting with it on human beings."

I froze. "Loki's scepter?" I gasped, wondering if I'd heard correctly.

Maria Hill had recently informed me (though she'd told Tony and the rest of the team ages ago) that a great deal of SHIELD tech had indeed fallen into HYDRA's hands. Not only that, some SHIELD experiments that were deemed too dangerous to continue, as well as alien artifacts that were also too dangerous to handle, had also been taken.

' _I guess Loki's scepter was one of them_ ,' I thought, scowling at the monitor as Phil came to the end of the message.

"Adena, I'm thinking that you're going to see this first, since I know the others are away on another mission," he said, giving me a sympathetic look. "Tell them I don't know how long HYDRA will stay there, but their base seems heavily fortified, so they've been there a while. I doubt they'll leave unless forced to, and even then, they might just blow the place rather than surrender it.

"You need to tell The Avengers that. They need to know that they have to come up with a plan and hit the base with everything they've got, or else whatever HYDRA has holed up in there will slip through our fingers."

He smiled and waved. "Thanks, Adena."

Rolling my eyes, I sighed and sat back in my chair. "Looks like Steve and the gang won't be getting much of a break this week, JT," I said, slightly disappointed that I wouldn't get much time alone with my husband.

Oh, the joyful life of an Avenger's spouse.

* * *

AN: Review?


	3. A Day in the Life of the Avengers

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: I know, I'm late, but here's the next chapter. In this one, we finally dive right into the events of the film. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review!

 **Chapter 3: A Day in the Life of the Avengers :**

Needless to say, the team was extremely disappointed at getting an extremely short breather between one mission and another, but they all agreed that whatever HYDRA was hiding in Sokovia, it had to be dealt with.

A few days after Phil's call, the team gathered together again, ready to head out. As always, I was to stay safely inside Avengers Tower and watch the action via a live feed from Jarvis, who would be monitoring the team from his satellite above Earth. JT would link to him as well, providing any information, details, and assistance that I required.

Much to his disappointment, Sam was going to be left behind. Apparently Tony needed someone representing Stark Industries to attend a security conference, and since Sam was technically a Stark employee, he was chosen to attend. Sam wasn't happy about the whole thing, but the Avengers really didn't think the whole matter in Sokovia was going to result in that much of a fight, and they told Sam so. It made him feel better, but not much.

After thoroughly kissing my husband goodbye and wishing him good luck, I went to the office Tony had set up for me downstairs.

Actually, it was more of a suite than the typical executive office.

The main room resembled something out of a spy movie, with several opaque screens hanging on cables that were bolted to the ceiling. These screens would receive the live feeds from Jarvis, and I would be able to track the progress of the team during their mission. There was also a touchscreen control panel in the big wooden desk that stood before the screens, which flipped up when I activated it. There was a comfortable chair with a cup holder in each armrest, and a footrest, which kept me comfortable when I sat down. The desk could also move upwards, in case I wanted to stand instead of sit.

Off to one side was a small, fully stocked, modern kitchen area for me to use. And since Tony had created this kitchen, the tech in it made it possible for JT to activate the appliances and make me a meal without me ever leaving my chair.

But that wasn't all. There was also an adjoining bathroom, complete with a shower and tub, and a small bedroom, so that I could take a rest before the team got home.

Yes, I was very spoiled, and surprisingly, not all of it was Steve's idea (though most of it was). The others had insisted that I have every luxury available, since they knew how I tended to worry about all of them (though I rather suspected that they kind of liked having someone 'mother' them a little). Natasha said it was the only way they could think of to repay me for all my hard work, so I didn't argue when Tony had put the whole area together for me.

Although I rarely helped out during their missions, there was a routine I always went through whenever I did. I took a long nap, ate a healthy meal, and tried to mentally prepare myself for whatever challenges might be ahead. JT helped by playing computer games against me, and setting times for me to rest, eat, and prepare again, all before Jarvis contacted us, signaling the start of the team's attack.

With my headset on and the screens showing various views of the team (thanks to the cameras stowed in their outfits), I was able to look in on them whenever I pleased. Of course, I couldn't actually _see_ everything I wanted to –I only had two eyes, after all. So, JT connected himself to the control panel on my desk and kept an eye on literally all the screens, drawing my attention to whichever one he thought was most urgent. Jarvis was a big help, too, but most of his focus had to be on whatever the Avengers needed him to do.

But it wasn't watching the team in action that was hardest on me; it was the waiting. Whether it was waiting for them to get there, or for them to return, I hated waiting. It didn't matter that the flight capabilities of the Quinjets lessened their travel time by a few hours; the anxiety of waiting was enough to drive me nuts, and by the time Jarvis started transmitting, I was a wreck.

I couldn't even talk to Steve, either, since the team spent their travel time eating, sleeping, or preparing themselves for whatever they might face. Steve knew that I'd only be an even bigger distraction than I already was –apparently, I was always on his mind whenever he traveled without me, and it took a lot of effort for him to focus solely on the fight ahead.

So waiting was what almost did me in, until I heard the familiar voice of my friends through the communications line. Then, it was time to get this started.

* * *

It started out like any other mission I'd listened in on. There were lots of weapons being fired, lots of people getting hit (or smashed, if the Hulk was involved), and the usual banter being tossed about by the team members.

At one point, I heard what sounded like a rubber ball being bounced off of a metal surface, and snickered when Tony yelled, "Shit!" over the communications link.

"Language!" both Steve and I chided him in unison. I could hear my husband give a small, soft chuckle into my ear, and smiled.

"Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?" Steve asked.

"There appears to be an energy shield protecting the central building," Jarvis replied.

"The tech on this building seems to be heavier than any other HYDRA base you've hit," I said, eyes darting from one screen to the next. "The scepter must be there; he wouldn't have such heavy defenses if it weren't!"

"At last," Thor rumbled as I watched him take down several fighters.

I heard Barton sigh. "I think we've lost the element of surprise."

"Wait," Tony said, his tone slightly incredulous. "No one is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said ' _language_?'"

"I know, I know," Steve griped, taking his frustration out by throwing his motorcycle at a HYDRA vehicle loaded with soldiers. "It just slipped out."

Even though they couldn't see it, I rolled my eyes. "Hey, I said it, too. Don't you go picking on my husband!"

"Yeah, but because it's you, I'm giving you a free pass," Tony replied. I could almost hear him grinning as he proceeded to fly head-first into the fight.

"Whatever," I muttered, smiling a little as I tried focusing on the task at hand.

Jarvis then reported that Sokovia City was taking fire, and I told him to send in the Iron Legion. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the robots Tony had built to try and keep people calm –it seemed too impersonal, and I knew that not everyone was a fan of The Avengers (or, more specifically, Tony Stark). There were times when the robots took even more damage than the team did, which said something about public opinion.

"JT, remind me to have something nice and friendly sent to the people of Sokovia City," I said. "You know; something nice and significant to them and their culture."

"Yes, miss," he replied, beeping as he made notes.

I then heard some sort of laser fire, followed by Steve telling everyone there was an "Enhanced" in the field. Someone with superhuman abilities was there!

"Clint's hit!" Natasha reported. "Someone want to deal with that bunker while I tend to him?"

I heard the Hulk's trademark roar, and the sound of something large being smashed. "Thank you!" Natasha said, sounding both grateful and cheerful.

"We need to get inside!" Steve said urgently as he took down a squad of HYDRA fighters.

"I'm on it," Tony replied. "Jarvis, any good news for me?"

"There's an energy source emanating from the north tower," the computer system replied.

"Got it!" Tony cheerfully said, blasting off in that direction.

"I think we've got it from here, Adena," Steve said. "Stark's taking down the force field, and we'll get inside to get the scepter. There's no need for you to sit there while we do that."

"What about the Enhanced?" I pressed, fearful that something worse might happen than Barton getting hurt.

Steve sighed. "He's a blur. I've never seen anything like it. Actually, I _still_ haven't seen it; not really."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, Adena," Natasha said over the wire. "We're going to need a medical evacuation."

I began pressing a command into one section of the console. "I've got it, Natasha. I'm sending in the Quinjet. There's some solid medical gear in there that'll keep him stabilized until you guys get back. Bruce will be able to help out with that."

While I was talking to Natasha, Steve and Thor were having their own conversation, which I only caught the end of. "Looks like they're lining up," Thor said, clearly amused.

"Well, they're excited," Steve said nonchalantly as he lifted his shield. I grinned. This was a maneuver that was a favorite of mine.

Raising his hammer, Thor brought it down on Steve's shield, the resulting shock wave sending enemy fighters, and their tanks, flying in all directions. When the dust settled, Thor flew off, telling Steve to find the scepter.

"And for gosh sakes, watch your language!" Tony joked.

"Okay, now you sound just like my grandma," I told him.

I heard Tony chuckle. "You know what, Adena? Why don't you take that break Cap was talking about? We've got this from here."

He was probably right. With the force field down, as well as most of HYDRA's fighters out for the count, they didn't really need me at this point. "Okay, but I'm coming back in thirty minutes," I said firmly. "You guys try and stay out of trouble until I get back!"

"Yes, ma'am," several voices replied. I recognized Tony's and Natasha's, both of them teasing; Steve's was the only one that sounded serious.

As I pulled my headset off, I looked over at JT. "JT, could you hold down the fort while I powder my nose and grab a quick bite?"

"Yes, Miss," my handy computerized friend replied. "If anything emerges, I shall inform you immediately."

"Good enough," I said, making my way towards the kitchen area.

* * *

By the time I got back, the team was finishing up their efforts at the HYDRA base. Tony had found the scepter, and Baron Von Strucker, HYDRA's number one thug, was in custody. I had expected him to run for safety during the attack, but it seemed Steve had gotten to him first.

"We didn't find the Enhanced, though," Steve said, his voice full of disappointment.

I assured him it was alright. "If he, or she, is that fast, there's no way you could have caught him. They might be a hundred miles away by now, hiding. Without Strucker, they're probably running scared –literally."

By then, a large coalition of soldiers with prison vehicles had shown up. The United Nations tended to want to take the prisoners themselves, to keep in a secure location that their best interrogation teams had access to. Since The Avengers weren't really into that sort of thing, we tended to let the governments do it. Maria Hill was our point of contact with them, so whatever info the other nations gathered, they tended to share with us (sometimes) via Maria.

With the last of the prisoners being rounded up, I turned my attention to the two who needed it most: Bruce and Clint Barton.

Barton was in better shape at that point. Natasha had used the medical kits aboard the Jet to treat his wounds, and thanks to some very powerful painkillers, he looked like he was feeling pretty darn good.

Bruce was my other concern. The whole team had worried about him possibly losing control during missions, and so he had come up with a way to sooth the Hulk to the point where Bruce could take over again. So, Bruce had come up with something he dubbed "Lullaby," which he primarily explained to me and Natasha in private.

"The Hulk likes and respects both of you," he said, not looking either one of us in the eye. "Maybe it's because you're female –some animals allow things in females that they wouldn't in another male. Anyway, if both of you know how to calm The Other Guy down, it'd be a good safety protocol to have in place."

So, Lullaby was developed. It would start with a simple phrase, "The sun's getting real low…," followed by Natasha or myself trying to calm him with words or a gentle touch on the arm. After that, it was up to the Hulk on whether or not he'd actually start to calm down.

During our practice of this technique, Thor, Steve, and Tony stood nearby, watching carefully to see if Natasha or I needed rescue. Steve wasn't happy having me so close to the Hulk, even if it was just to see if this sort of procedure might work. For the most part, Bruce/Hulk wasn't really raging or anything –he was fairly calm (or as calm as he could be in Hulk form), so I figured we were safe enough.

It took a lot of training, but for the most part, it worked. No one really understood why it did, but I had a theory, which I wouldn't dream of sharing with anyone on the team. I guessed that the Hulk liked me as a friend, and didn't like scaring me, so he was willing to calm down if I asked him to.

With Natasha, though, I highly suspected that he had feelings that went much deeper than friendship. It was actually kind of cute, considering they were complete opposites. Natasha was the sexy, saucy spy/assassin, and Bruce was a sweet, shy, gentle guy who didn't like fighting (whereas the Hulk was the other side of that coin). None of the others noticed the connection they were making, which I thought was funny, considering Barton and Steve prided themselves on their observation skills.

By the time I checked in, Bruce was in the Quinjet with a set of headphones on, listening to some soothing music while the others boarded. Once they were all inside, Tony took the controls and headed the aircraft out of there.

Satisfied that things were going well, I told JT to turn off the screens. I was on the verge of shutting down the tech gear when the sound of a phone ringing sounded through the computer console/keyboard.

Wondering who could possibly be calling, I checked it out. It was Helen Cho, a geneticist who worked out of South Korea, and who was a friend of Bruce's. Curious as to why she was calling, I answered.

* * *

During the flight back to New York, Tony Stark looked at the scepter enclosed in protective glass shielding, and tried to gather his thoughts back together. Something had happened back in Sokovia; he didn't know what, but he'd felt his deepest fears come rushing to the surface, and his imagination had taken things from there.

Again, his head filled with the horrific images, things he'd always hoped would never happen. He saw that giant wormhole in space, only this time, he'd failed to close it. Rushing through it were the enormous armored creatures that had destroyed entire buildings in New York, and with them were alien ships, full of invaders.

Piled up all around him were the dead, people he'd failed to save. But the worst part was where a single, shadowy figure stood over the tied-down forms of a struggling Pepper and Adena, while some sort of machine shot bolts of electricity at them. He tried blocking out their screams, which were over far too quickly.

Looking at another pile of victims, Tony was shocked to see his fellow Avengers lying there, dead. He rushed over to try and see if he could help them, but no one responded –not until Steve's badly wounded form reached out and grabbed his arm.

"You could have saved us," he gasped.

Horrified, Tony watched as a man he'd grown to admire die right in front of him.

When he'd snapped out of it, he was back at the base, looking at the scepter that had caused so much pain and suffering. Still, there was something about it, something that pulled at him, and Tony found himself suddenly curious about how it worked.

He'd summoned a gauntlet from his Iron Man armor, and using it, grabbed the scepter, fully intent on taking it as far away from there as possible.

On the flight back, he'd managed to hide his worries and fears behind his usual mask of jokes and humor. The others didn't notice anything odd about him, especially not after he mentioned throwing a party in celebration of their defeat of HYDRA and obtaining the scepter.

Now that they were back at Avengers Tower, Tony watched as Helen Cho came to meet them and led the stretcher carrying Barton to the medical wing. Meanwhile, Maria Hill and Adena came up the ramp to greet him and Steve, who remained behind for their debriefing. For the most part, any kind of debrief or report bored the others, so it was usually up to Tony or Steve to do it.

"Lab's all set up, boss," Maria said as soon as she set foot inside the Jet.

Tony turned in his seat and pointed at Steve. "Actually, he's the boss," he commented, trying to keep the resentment out of his voice. "I just pay for everything, and design everything, and make everyone look cooler."

Adena rolled her eyes. "Okay, that makes you the co-boss, then," she retorted. "But let us sum up what we found out about who you went up against."

Maria nodded and handed the data pad to Steve as Adena continued, "Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. They're twins who were orphaned at age 10 when a shell landed outside their apartment building. Word is they volunteered to be part of Strucker's experiments."

Steve looked over at Adena as the four headed for the elevator. "Abilities?" he asked.

Adena shrugged. "He's super-fast, and she's got a bunch of weird telepathic and psychic abilities."

"Good enough," Steve muttered as the elevator opened and he stepped inside.

Without warning, the good Captain reached out and put his arm around Adena's waist, pulling his wife inside with him. Tony couldn't help but smirk at the surprised squeak Adena gave, right before the doors closed behind her.

"You know, sometimes they're so cute, it makes me a little nauseous," Maria said as she walked away, her smile belying her words.

When it came to those two lovebirds, Tony heartily agreed with her. But now that he was free, he hurried to run and snag Bruce. There was something very important he wanted to talk about, and Bruce was the only one who'd understand where Tony was coming from.

* * *

Snuggling up against Steve's shoulder, I sighed happily and popped a chip in my mouth. Beside me, I felt him chuckle a little as he took a sip of his cola.

"Hey, I'm allowed to be happy that you're home, safe and sound," I said, pouting slightly, "Especially when you go up against people with superhuman abilities."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me, softly and gently. "You're right," he whispered. "And I'm happy to be home, because I know you're here, waiting for me."

We snuggled a bit closer together and tried watching the movie I had playing, but didn't get very far. I could tell that, as much as Steve wanted to relax, his mind was still in Avenger-mode.

"So you met Helen Cho?" he asked, sipping his soda again.

I nodded. Before today, I'd never met her. All I knew was that she was a friend of Bruce's, and when I'd asked about her, Bruce had gone on and on about Helen and her research. She apparently had something to do with human tissue regeneration and technology, but I only understood a fraction of what he'd said.

"She seems nice," I commented, listening to Steve's steady heartbeat. "When she arrived before you did, she actually wanted to sit and talk with me. We had some tea, and we chatted about Korea, its food and culture, and all that stuff for a while."

I sighed. "It seems that Bruce told her that science isn't my forte, so after the talk about her country, Helen _very carefully_ explained her work to me, using words and terms that even I could understand."

Steve laughed and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "At least you got along alright," he teased. "And you know that whenever Bruce and Tony talk science stuff, you and I both get grumpy."

"Because they act like everyone around them is a scientist!" I whined. "They always assume that everyone knows what they're talking about, when we really don't."

The arm around my waist tightened as Steve tried to sooth me. He was right; talking technology and science did make me grumpy. "You know, Tony's throwing a party in a few days," he casually said.

I immediately perked up. Any kind of party thrown by Tony Stark was usually pretty awesome, as I knew from first-hand experience. "Are we invited?" I asked eagerly. "And what's it for, anyway?"

Steve shrugged. "Getting the scepter and taking down a major HYDRA base. It's also for Thor; he wants to take the scepter back to Asgard, and Tony wants to create some fun memories for him."

"Well, count us in," I said, feeling better already. "I'm as up for a party as the next girl."

Chuckling, Steve finally relaxed enough to sit back and enjoy the movie with me.

* * *

AN: Review?


	4. Party at the Tower

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: This is mostly the party scene from the movie. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review! Thanks!

 **Chapter 4: Party at the Tower :**

Years ago, partying with Tony Stark had probably been a serious trip. Before I'd come to New York, even I had heard about the aftermath of his parties, usually through tabloids, evening entertainment shows, and gossip around the office. People used to get wasted on alcohol and dance all night, and by dawn the next day, people were _still_ staggering out of Tony's mansion.

Now that he was with Pepper, Tony had toned down his parties quite a bit. Rather than rowdy party animals looking for a night of endless drinks, these events now had a sense of class. There was also a guest list, and guards at the door, letting in only a select few.

Tonight, everyone was in dressy-casual clothes, the music was turned up, and drinks were flowing. Everyone was mingling and chatting, and having a pretty good time when I got there. Steve had headed up early, since Sam was going to be there and the two hadn't had much time to hang out together. When I arrived, the two were playing pool with a group of guys and girls, some of whom were cheering them on.

As I strolled up to the table, Steve put an arm around me and smiled. "I like it when you dress up," he murmured as he leaned in for a kiss.

Choosing a color to match Steve's blue shirt and black pants, I'd decided to wear a simple, midnight-blue dress that went down to my ankles. The waist was high, but the fall of the dress itself was elegant and flowed beautifully. I had silver sandals on, with silver bracelets around my wrists, set off by the three-quarter length sleeves of the dress. JT was safely tucked into a pocket, where I could reach him if necessary.

"Looks like I win again, Cap," Sam said, smirking as a few of the guys handed him some cash.

Steve pulled back from our kiss with a smile. "That's alright. I've got a pretty good prize right here."

The girls all gave small sighs of envy, but when the other men started paying attention to them, they became much happier.

With the game over, Sam decided to take a turn around the room, and invited us upstairs to a walkway that was fairly empty. As we headed up, Steve told Sam about what had happened in Sokovia, and what they had managed to accomplish.

"Sounds like quite a fight," Sam said, "I'm sorry I missed it." The disappointment in his voice was beyond obvious.

Steve sighed. "If I'd known there'd be that kind of firefight, I'd have called you."

Sam smiled and shook his head. "I'm not actually _sorry_ ; I'm just trying to sound tough."

"Hey, you're tough!" I exclaimed, looking around Steve so that I could have a clear view of my friend. "I _know_ you're tough."

He laughed a little. "Yeah, I'm perfectly happy taking Adena around town, fighting off those rabid, curious fans of yours. But it'd still be nice to see some real action, once in a while."

Sam paused a second. "Although, Avenging is your world; and your world is _crazy_."

I felt Steve squeeze my waist. "As crazy as things get for me, knowing Adena is safe is what keeps me together," Steve said, his blue eyes softening as he looked at me. "I can't thank you enough for protecting the most important person in my life."

Sam chuckled as I gave Steve a kiss on the cheek. "Alright, I get it. How about I leave you two alone to get reacquainted?"

At that point, a small group of girls was eyeing Sam rather closely, so he had the perfect excuse to leave me with Steve. For a while, we walked around the party, chatting with some of the other Avengers and some of the guests that had been invited.

During our rounds, I was happy to see that Barton was okay, thanks to Helen Cho, who had used some of the tech she'd brought with her to patch him up. He moved a little stiffly, but considering he'd just been shot a few days ago, I was amazed he wasn't still bedridden.

Thor found us as Steve was introducing me to a group of WWII veterans, and there was a wicked gleam in the Asgardian's eyes that made me a little suspicious. "Stark has informed me of the Captain's unique tolerance to strong drink," he said, pulling out a small flask from his pocket.

The vets, who _seemed_ to be grumpy old men, were still young at heart and had great senses of humor. When they heard the slight challenge in Thor's voice, all of them gathered around.

"What've you got there?" one of them asked, using a cane to hobble over.

I listened to Thor talk about special wooden barrels and aging the liquor for over a thousand years, and knew what he was up to: he wanted to see how drunk he could get Steve.

Now, if I'd been married to any other man, I'd have put a stop to this whole thing, fast. But Steve was unable to get intoxicated (at least on human alcohol), so I felt he would hold up pretty well under Asgardian liquor. Even if he did get tipsy (or flat-out drunk), it would at least make for a great video, though I would have to fight the urge to put it online.

Thor handed Steve a glass with a shot of the stuff, and as the old men argued and urged him to serve them one, I watched my husband closely examine the contents of his glass. He sniffed it carefully, looking a bit between puzzled and fascinated. He then offered it to me to examine.

As I accepted the glass, Thor watched _me_ carefully, a touch of amusement on his face. I carefully waved the glass under my nose, and took a tiny sniff, since I'd had some bad experiences with sniffing strong alcohol before, and almost ended up flat on the floor because of it.

To my surprise, the liquid actually smelled fairly nice –smooth, a little fruity, and a bit oaky, the scent was somewhere between a good bourbon, and a fine, aged wine. I was tempted to try it, but since I was a bit of a lightweight when it came to drinking, I didn't want to risk it. I simply handed the glass back to Steve and watched as he, and the others, started to down them.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Steve and I were walking away from a severely drunk group of war vets. Some were so plastered that I had to call a few Stark employees to carry them off downstairs, where a taxi would be waiting for them. A few had passed out, and one seemed to be lost in some sort of drunken haze, muttering the word "excelsior" repeatedly as he was led to his cab. It was pretty funny, but I felt terrible for them; their hangovers tomorrow were going to be epic.

Steve, however, had once again shown the miracle of his super-soldier serum, and was sober as a rock. "You know, it was pretty good," he commented, looking at the empty glass in his hand. "You should have tried some."

Looking over at the poor guys getting carried out, I shook my head. "No, thanks; I don't think my system could take it, Legolas."

He gave me an odd look. "The blonde guy from that _Lord of the Rings_ movie you had me watch?"

I laughed. "Remember the drinking scene? You're both so alike: you keep drinking, and at the end of the whole thing, you're still standing."

Steve finally got the reference and chuckled. "Okay, I can see that. I feel bad for the boys, though."

I shrugged. "Well, Thor did warn them. I'm just glad that alien alcohol doesn't affect you, since if you did get drunk, _I_ would be the one having to deal with your hangover."

He offered me the empty glass, which still had a tiny amount of the liquor at the bottom. It was barely enough for a sip, and the liquid, which was clear with a slight tint of amber, was very tempting. Dare I try something from another planet?

' _Well, when is this chance ever going to come up again_?'

I took the glass and looked up at my husband. "Promise you'll catch me if I pass out?"

He didn't even hesitate to pull me aside and put a firm arm around my waist. Secure in the knowledge that Steve would never let me go, even by accident, I took a deep breath and downed the sip in one go.

At first, it was pretty good. The liquor went down smoothly, and sort of tasted like a shot of spiced rum, but without the harsh burn that went with it. There was a bit of a bite, but not as bad as I thought it would be.

When the shot hit my stomach, though, it was a different story. I felt a little woozy, and actually swayed a little on my feet. I doubt that I would have fallen, but Steve was there to catch me anyway. He gave me a worried look, but I smiled at him, feeling a little lightheaded.

"Whew," I breathed, fanning myself with my free hand as I set the glass on a nearby bar table. "Now I can see why those guys had to be helped out of here."

Steve was clearly worried about how I was handling the liquor, but I assured him I was fine. "Just a little lightheaded," I said. "I might need a place to sit down, though."

With the exception of Bruce and Natasha, the bar was totally empty, as most people were mingling throughout the party. With a gentle guiding hand, Steve escorted me to a seat at the very end and helped me onto one of the tall stool seats.

Unfortunately, our arrival interrupted a rather flirtatious conversation between Bruce and Natasha, who was playing the role of occasional bartender. When we arrived at the bar, I saw Natasha give Bruce one last glance before snagging a drink and heading off, leaving a rather nervous and flustered scientist behind.

"Aw, don't you two look cute," I cooed, smiling widely.

Bruce tried to stutter a reply, but couldn't get much out. Feeling bad for him, I got up and put my arms around him in a hug. He stiffened a little, then relaxed, his arms giving me a nice, tight squeeze as I gently patted him on the back. A minute later, I pulled away, smiling at the pink tinge in his cheeks.

"You know, she's just flirting with me," Bruce muttered, eyes looking down as he tried to hide his embarrassment. "Empty flirtation…stuff like that."

Steve chuckled a little. "Trust me; Adena and I have both seen her flirt with plenty of guys," he said, reaching over to grab a beer from behind the bar. " _That_ wasn't empty flirting."

I gently patted Bruce on the shoulder. "You should go for it," I encouraged him. "You both deserve to be happy."

Bruce muttered something under his breath as he headed off to join Tony in a corner, where he was talking with Helen Cho. Once Steve and I were alone, Natasha appeared from behind a pillar, an amused smile on her face.

"Trying to play matchmaker with me and Banner?" she said, leaning against the bar.

I gave her an innocent look. "Would I do that to you?"

She laughed and reached out to hug me around the waist. "You would. Just because you and Steve are a happy married couple doesn't mean you should hook us single Avengers up with one another."

Natasha then pressed a kiss to my cheek before heading the opposite direction of Bruce; she went up to join Barton in the walkways above the huge party/lounge area.

A large hand settled on my back. "And you really should sit down," Steve firmly told me. "Or at least let me get you some water."

I reluctantly agreed. After downing a couple glasses of water, Steve and I headed out onto the large balcony that wrapped around the front half of the building, and which had a spectacular view of the city. The air was pleasantly cool, and out here, all we could hear were the bustle of the traffic far below us and the whir of the occasional helicopter flying by.

Slipping an arm around my waist, Steve pulled me close. "You know, now that we've found Loki's scepter, I might take a few weeks off," he whispered into my ear. "What do you think about us taking a vacation? Someplace warm, quiet, with a beach…"

I sighed. "Oh, yes, I like that idea," I murmured in reply, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Maybe Tony will lend us a beach house?"

For the rest of the party, we quietly discussed our future vacation, and enjoyed the quiet of the night.

* * *

A couple hours later, after the party had ended, the Avengers, including Adena, Maria Hill and Helen Cho, gathered in a foyer, with plenty of Chinese food, drinks, and jokes scattered around.

Tucked snuggly against Steve's side was his wife, who was poking fun at Lt. Rhodes, who was telling one of his 'battle stories' as War Machine. The others, meanwhile, were having an argument about Thor's hammer, and whether it was really magical or not.

"It's a trick," Barton was saying, twirling a pair of drumsticks as he talked. "Whosoever be he worthy shall have the power. Whatever, it's a trick!"

Thor chuckled. "Please, be my guest," he offered, smiling as he gestured towards the hammer, which stood on a wooden table, handle up.

All the men instantly perked up, including Steve. The idea of handling Thor's fantastic weapon was just too tempting to turn down!

He felt Adena stir beside him, and looked over just in time to see her rolling her eyes at Natasha, who snickered and sipped a beer. He knew what she was thinking: the men were trying to show off again, and she was going to be the one to try and sooth their egos if/when they failed at what they were trying to do.

Barton headed up first, but not before Tony jibed, "Don't worry, Barton. You've had a tough week, so we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

Barton just rolled his eyes and put one hand on the hammer. Everyone watched in amusement as he struggled to pick it up, and failed. He laughed, and pulled back. "I don't know how you do it!" he exclaimed, shaking his head.

Adena gently nudged him in the side. "Are you going to try?" she whispered as Tony got to his feet, an arrogant swagger in his step as he moved towards the hammer.

Steve wasn't one to turn down a challenge, and he was rather excited to at least see if he had what it took. The problem was he wasn't sure Adena would approve of such a display of 'manly pride.' But he had to be honest with her. "Yes," he admitted, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

To his surprise, she nodded. "Okay, but don't strain or break something while you do," she said, half teasing. "I'll be right here, cheering for you."

Knowing that made him feel much better; so much so that he leaned in and kissed her swiftly. "Thanks," he whispered.

"Be right back," Stark said, before strolling downstairs.

Steve looked at the rest of the group. "What? Where is he going?"

The others shrugged, though Adena sighed. "I have a guess, but I'll wait to see if I'm right."

A few minutes later, Stark returned with one arm of his Iron Man armor and one from War Machine. "Me first, then you, Rhodey," he said, handing the War Machine gauntlet to its handler.

Smirking, Steve sat back to watch and wait his turn.

* * *

Watching all these guys try and prove themselves "worthy" of Thor's hammer was something I was going to remember for the rest of my life.

After Tony and Rhodey failed in picking up the hammer, and Bruce's hilarious pretend efforts to lift it, I sat and waited as Steve took his turn. Rolling up his sleeves, my husband calmly walked over to the other end of the table, and looked at me for support. I smiled and nodded, but said nothing as the others cheered him on.

While the Avengers watched with doubt and amused smiles, I held my breath. Personally, I thought that Thor's hammer _did_ have a magic spell on it, but only as a security measure, so that he was the only one who could lift it. If it turned out that Thor was right, and it _could_ be lifted by someone the hammer (or the spell) thought worthy…well, that'd only open up a whole other matter!

Even though I truly did think that Steve was worthy of wielding the hammer, I really wasn't ready to deal with him possessing superhuman or magical powers. Being married to Captain America was hard enough –being married to a magical, hammer-wielding, lightning-summoning Captain would be something else altogether!

Taking a deep breath, Steve put both hands on the hammer and pulled. Watching closely, I almost fainted as I saw the hammer move. Yes, it _moved_! I even heard the tiniest squeak from it as it shifted slightly!

Clamping my hands over my mouth, I held my breath as Steve tried again, only to fail to move it entirely.

Giving up good-naturedly, Steve gave a smile and a sigh before retaking his seat beside me, where I proceeded to give him a consolation kiss, to remind him that he was always worthy in my book. He returned the kiss and pulled me into his lap. When I looked over at the rest of the group, I noticed that Thor looked rather relieved at Steve's failure. Chuckling, I turned my head and saw Bruce motioning for Natasha to try.

"Oh, no; that's not a question I need answered," she said, taking a sip of beer.

Steve gently patted me on the back. "What about you?" he asked.

I laughed and shook my head. "Nope; not a question I need answered, either."

"Oh, come on, Adena," Tony said, waving towards the hammer with a glass of alcohol. "I'll bet you a new car that you'll at least move the thing more than Cap did."

"Not interested, and not curious," I replied. "Thanks, but no thanks!"

"It's rigged," Tony griped as he got up to refill his glass, all the while looking at the table.

"You bet your ass," Barton said, glancing over at us with a wink.

Maria pointed in his direction. "Steve, he said a bad-language word!"

Steve hung his head as I picked up a piece of fortune cooking and threw it at Maria's head. "You told them about that?" he sighed, glaring in Tony's direction.

"It probably says, whosoever possesses Thor's fingerprint shall move the hammer," Tony said, looking thoughtfully at it while avoiding Steve's question.

"Or, perhaps, it's a more simple reason," Thor said, rising from his chair and retrieving his hammer. "You're all not worthy."

As the others laughed and rolled their eyes, an earsplitting sound shot through the air. Everyone winced and covered their ears as the noise died away and a strange, strangled sound replaced it. What sounded like metal footsteps slowly staggered into the room, and I got to my feet with the others, to see what was coming.

The sight was very macabre: a hodge-podge of Iron Legion robot parts fused together, staggering around as sparks and wires fell from it. It looked as though it didn't know how to walk properly, or really even move.

"No," it said in a heavy male voice, "How could you be worthy? You're all…killers."

Steve slowly got to his feet and moved in front of me, his tall frame blocking me from the robot's line of sight. "Adena," he whispered in a tone so soft I almost missed it, "Get behind the couch."

That was my cue to move, oh-so-slowly, away from danger. There weren't many places to hide, but while the others tried to draw out the robot's name and purpose for being here, I ducked behind the couch. As much as I hated looking like a coward, I really was the most helpless of the gang –well, besides Dr. Cho.

"But I'm ready," the odd voice said. "I'm on a mission."

Natasha's voice carried over to my hiding place. "What mission?"

There was a short pause. "Peace in our time."

And then chaos exploded all around me.

* * *

AN: Review?


	5. Paths of Destruction

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Here's the continuation from the last chapter. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review. Thanks.

 **Chapter 5: Paths of Destruction :**

The minute the party had been interrupted, Steve had formed a plan to protect Adena. Keeping his wife out of harm's way was second nature to him, even if it annoyed her.

When Stark's Iron Legion robots came bursting through the walls and floor, Steve moved quickly, kicking over the couch so that it flipped upside-down, creating a sort of protective cover over Adena's crouching form.

Still moving in a circle from the force behind his kick, Steve flipped the coffee table up, creating a barrier between him and the laser fire that was being directed at everyone in the robots' sights. It wasn't enough to fully protect him, though –he soon went flying, the blasts knocking him down a level below the foyer he'd been in.

Thanks to the adrenaline rush he always got during a fight, most of the ensuing battle was a mix of blur and sharp. He remembered being stupid enough to try and take down a robot without a weapon, only to be tossed about like a rag doll. He'd also saved Dr. Cho from being blasted to pieces, and remembered Barton tossing him his shield. Part of him recalled Ultron telling them that the way for humanity to evolve was their extinction.

Even after Thor had cut down Ultron's piecemeal mechanical form, Steve knew that this, whatever it was, wasn't over.

With their enemies defeated, Steve raced to check on Adena. He carefully lifted the edge of the couch, calling to his wife so that she knew it was him and not a robot.

To his chagrin, the couch hadn't fully protected her –there had been a large gap between the edge of it and the ground, so some shrapnel had gotten through during the fight. He immediately noticed that there were some minor scrapes and cuts on her arms, probably from flying glass, metal and plastic. Her eyes were slightly dazed, but it was Adena's quivering form lying on the ground that made his blood run cold. Was she more seriously hurt than she appeared? God, if he'd been the one to hurt her by kicking over the couch, he'd never forgive himself.

"Adena," he said, his tone full of urgency, "Talk to me. Are you okay?"

Her face turned up so that her eyes could meet his. "I'm okay," she whispered, lifting a slightly bloody hand to her temple. "I think I hit my head when I went down, though."

She smiled a little. "You know how bad I am at ducking for cover."

Steve barely managed a weak chuckle as he reached down and gently scooped her up off the floor. As she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, Steve looked around the room, trying to assess the damage.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked, his voice carrying. Voices from all directions called out, all of them stating they were fine. "Then let's regroup. Any idea where we can do that?"

"The lab downstairs," Banner's voice called from behind the bar. "It should hold all of us."

"Alright," Steve called. "Let's go."

* * *

Bruce did a quick checkup on everybody, but it was me he lingered on –probably because Steve was hovering like a hawk, watching to make sure I had the best care.

"A _tiny_ concussion, some scrapes and cuts, but that's all," Bruce declared, handing me a couple of aspirin. "The wounds have no glass or foreign objects in them –they just look worse than they are, because of the blood. Go clean up in that bathroom," he motioned towards a distant corner, "and take the aspirin. Take your time, too, since you do have a bit of a head bump."

Getting off of the impromptu exam table, I held tightly to the medicine with one hand and went to caress Steve's face with the other. "I'm fine," I firmly told him. "You stay here; I'll be back."

He wasn't happy, having me leave his sight, but I knew it was a good idea for me to leave the room right now. It was sort of an unwritten rule among the team members: since I was the weakest point of the group, I was to be kept safe and out of danger.

Now that a killer robot was out in the world, and I'd gotten caught in the crosshairs of a fight between him and the Avengers, Steve was going to be busting faces if he didn't get some good answers to his questions. And right now, I was in too much shock, anger, and pain to put a stop to it.

I couldn't hear the conversation through the bathroom door, but while the others talked, argued, and possibly threw punches, I was content to stay in the bathroom and try to pull myself together.

It took some time, but I managed to calm down and take the aspirin. After a short search of the cabinets, I found a wash cloth, cleaned myself up a bit, and splashed some cold water on my face, to clear my head. But rather than go out to meet the others, I pulled JT out of my pocket.

Most people would think it a miracle that he wasn't broken, but Tony Stark never did things half-way when it came to JT. During his last upgrade, Tony had put together a type of metal-plastic hybrid that formed JT's entire body, making him incredibly difficult to scratch, shatter, or break. Both JT and I could control whether or not he was totally transparent, or appeared metallic on the back, for privacy purposes. It was a feature I very much liked and appreciated.

"JT?" I softly called.

He beeped a soft affirmative. "Hello, Miss," he replied, his tone quiet. He always knew when to lower his volume, whether I asked it of him or not. "I sensed a large commotion earlier. Are you alright?"

I smiled; like Steve, JT always worried more about my well-being than his own.

"I'm fine," I said, my fingers brushing over his screen. "Are you okay? I know I hit the floor a bit hard earlier."

"I'm well, Miss," he replied. "However, something is wrong with the Tower's computer systems. I am unable to detect Jarvis's presence anywhere in the mainframe."

My heart dropped. I vaguely remembered that robot, Ultron, mentioning killing someone, a 'nice guy' before he came upstairs. Could he have meant Jarvis?

"If Jarvis is gone, how are you still functioning?" I asked. "Aren't you two connected in some way?"

"That is true," JT admitted, "However, during the party, the connection was cut. I had detected a slight malfunction in the system before the disconnection occurred, but was unable to obtain more information."

I sighed. "It was Ultron, some sort of technology that Tony invented. It's gone crazy! It said that it had killed Jarvis before attacking us."

JT took a minute to process that. "Then, in all likelihood, Jarvis severed the connection between us in order to spare me from being overrun or destroyed by this Ultron."

Knowing Jarvis, it was definitely something he would have done.

However, JT's next words chilled me to the bone. "If that is the case, then Ultron is more than a mere machine; he is most likely some advance form of artificial intelligence."

I swallowed hard. I'd seen a lot of sci-fi movies, and knew what happened when someone invented a computer that could think on its own, right before it went bad. "I'll ask Tony about it. For now, _don't_ try and work your way into the Tower's systems. If Ultron is AI, I don't want to risk losing you, too."

After telling JT to shut down for a minute, I used the toilet, the flush of it signaling that I was done and ready to come out. As soon as I stepped out the door and into the lab, Steve was there to sweep me up into his arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered. "I was afraid I'd accidently hurt you when I kicked the couch over."

I couldn't help but smile. "Well, you always did have a good sense of judgment when it came to your strength. It was mostly my diving head-first for the floor. And we can blame Tony for having poor tastes in furniture."

Steve chuckled into my hair as he held me tightly. "Ultron's been into our files, and has spread into the Internet," he whispered. "We can't track him because the system here is down, and even if we could, it's impossible without…"

"Without Jarvis," I finished for him, pulling back to look up at him. "Yeah, I know. JT told me."

He stared at me. "JT? He's okay?"

I nodded. "Apparently Jarvis saved him by severing their connection before Ultron could get to him. Ultron must have also been so focused on Jarvis and getting to you guys that he never noticed JT."

"Well, it's good to know that we still have one computer on our side, even if we don't dare use him," Steve muttered. "Maria Hill is contacting every friend and asset she has, to try and stay on top of this. Thor's just returned; one of Ultron's lackey robots took Loki's scepter, and Thor went after it."

I hesitated to ask, but I had to know. "Did he get it back?"

Steve shook his head, and said nothing. For a moment, we were both quiet as we tried to take it all in. Then, out of the blue, he looked at my ruined outfit, and smiled. "You need to change clothes. I went and brought some from our rooms. You can change in the bathroom, if you want."

Steve retrieved a pile of clothes from a nearby table and handed them to me.

I quickly changed into the jeans, shirt, and jean jacket, as well as the tennis shoes that he'd brought, and felt much better. Now in my new wardrobe, I went to see if I could be of help.

* * *

"What's the status?" Steve asked Maria Hill as they headed up to meet with the others on another level of the Tower.

"He's all over the globe," Maria said, heading up a flight of stairs. "Robotics labs, labs that produce jet propulsion systems, weapons facilities, you name it. There are reports of a metal man, or _men_ , breaking in and emptying the place."

"Fatalities?" he asked, bracing for the worst.

"Only when engaged," she replied. "Mostly people left in a fugue state, going on about being lost in memories or their worst nightmares -and something too fast to see."

"The Maximoffs," Steve growled. He was really starting to dislike those two. "It sort of makes sense that he'd go to them –they do have something in common."

"Not anymore," Maria commented, handing him a viewing pad.

Steve sighed and went up to show the image to the others. "Ultron killed Strucker."

Adena gasped. "What? Why?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve said, looking over at Natasha, who sat at a computer console, trying to sort through the tangled technological mess Ultron had left them.

"Yup," she sighed, "Everything we've got on Strucker has been erased."

Tony cleared his throat. "Not everything."

* * *

"I thought paper files were all 'old-school,'" Steve playfully whispered into my ear as he lifted a heavy box.

Smiling, I shoved him in the arm and picked up another box, one that was much lighter than the others. We both moved towards the tables where the team had gathered, and began sorting through them. Most were known associates of Baron Von Strucker, and after reading up on only a couple people, I felt disgusted. How could people like this possibly still be running loose in the world? Part of me hoped that the others were mentally taking names and memorizing them, so that they could go after these monsters as soon as the whole mess with Ultron was finished.

"Well, these people are all horrible," Bruce commented, flipping through a manila folder.

"Hey, I know that guy," Tony suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards the folder in Bruce's hands. "He operates off the African coast, in black market arms."

Steve gave him a glare, which Tony indignantly returned. "There are _conventions_ , alright?" he replied defensively. "I meet people, and I didn't sell him anything. He did mention finding something new, something he was keeping secret."

Thor was looking at a photo rather closely. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at it.

"It's a tattoo," Tony flippantly replied. "I didn't see it on him the time I saw him."

Thor shook his head. "No, _this_ is a tattoo," he said. "That's a brand of some kind."

Bruce was already all over it. "It's a word in an African language, meaning 'thief;' only in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked, eyes on the computer screen that Bruce sat in front of.

"Wakanda," Bruce answered.

Something changed on my husband's face as he turned to look at Tony, who looked a bit disgruntled. "If that guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…"

Steve looked just as unhappy, as well as puzzled. "I thought your father said he got the last of it."

"What are you guys talking about?" I interjected. "What comes out of Wakanda?"

Both Steve and Tony turned, their eyes falling towards in spot on the floor: where Steve's shield stood, propped against the wall.

I felt a weight drop on me. Ultron was going after the strongest metal on Earth: he was going after Vibranium.

* * *

After that, things started moving so rapidly, I felt my head spin.

Not only did I have to get one of the Quinjets ready for a long haul to Africa, I was also rushing around, helping the Avengers get their gear in order.

Yes, the group was going to Africa. Apparently the man they were after, Ulysses Klaue, had a base there, and the team was going to try and either get there before Ultron did, or try and stop him from getting hold of Vibranium. No one knew what that crazy robot wanted with the metal, but even I knew that he couldn't be allowed to obtain it.

So, after making sure that the Jet was fully fueled, I had to check that the spare weaponry, the medical supplies, and the food were all stocked. While a maintenance team went over every inch of the craft, for safety purposes, I ran to make sure that everyone on the team had everything they needed for the huge fight I knew was going to happen.

After I was sure that Clint had all the arrows he'd need in his quiver, as well as several compact, portable ones stored in his boots and belt, I raced to check on Natasha. She was doing okay with her personal arsenal, though she made sure to thank me for the small, deadly knives I'd had specially made just for her as a gift.

Bruce, meanwhile, was busy calming himself down in his own room, and I knew not to bother Thor, since he tended to call his girlfriend, Jane, before each fight. Tony was, without a doubt, in his lab, putting together a super-tough Iron Man suit for the occasion, so that left one final person (and my obvious favorite): Steve.

"You know, we don't _always_ have a huge fight wherever we go," Steve insisted as I checked the straps on his Captain America outfit. He was responding to the half-joke, half-comment I'd made while helping him put on the uniform.

I rolled my eyes. "Considering I've helped out on some of your missions, and watched at least a few of them on a live feed, I would beg to differ with that."

He smiled as I tightened one last strap and rose up on my toes so that I could press a kiss to his cheek. Just then, his arms slid around my waist, pulling me close.

"Adena," he whispered, his lips against my ear, "I want you to let Sam drive you someplace safe, away from the Tower, and stay there until we get back."

I sighed and pulled my head back so that I could look at him. "You know I can't do that, Steve. I've always done that in the past, but this time it's different. We no longer have Jarvis to keep an eye on things, either here or in that satellite in space. You need someone who can do what Jarvis did, but it can't be done from a distance."

I took a deep breath. "That's why I need to go with you guys."

Steve's body went rigid as his expression hardened. "No," he said, his hands moving to grip my shoulders. "Are you out of your mind? Do you know how dangerous this is going to be?"

"Of course I know," I snapped. "But if Ultron can piece together stuff from the robots in this very building, whose to say that he won't try that again when I'm here alone? Even if he doesn't, you need someone to track you guys during the fight, and without Jarvis playing 'eye-in-the-sky' and transmitting everything to me, you have no one watching your backs!"

Reaching up, I gently, but firmly put my hands on his face, forcing him to look me in the eye. "I can do that for you. And I can stay with Bruce, keeping him calm and focused until you call a 'code green.'"

A "code green" was the Avengers' signal to send the Hulk flying into battle. In past instances, Bruce would sit somewhere far away from the fight, trying to hold himself in check until needed. During a number of those instances, Bruce and I would chat about random stuff, with me being the one who kept him calm until someone yelled "Code Green" into our ears.

Steve was going to try and fight me on this, but I could see another type of war going on inside his head. He wanted to keep me safe here at the Tower, away from the fighting, like always. He was also probably thinking of having Sam babysit me until the danger was over.

But there was also the fact that I was right about several things. They needed someone to keep an eye on the fight, and call out warnings on the situation if things started turning ugly. I'd also be keeping in contact with Maria Hill, to let her know if we would need help with anything.

But the most important thing was keeping an eye on Bruce. The Hulk was the definition of 'unpredictable,' and my being there in person was going to be a big help in keeping Bruce's big green personality in check. Since Natasha was going to be knee-deep in fighting bad guys, I was everyone's best bet at making sure that things didn't go sideways with the team's huge, green backup weapon.

"You won't win on this," I told my husband, who looked ready for an all-out argument with me. "If you leave without me, I'll just get JT to fly the other jet to where you are. Or, if you somehow manage to disable the spare jet, I'll snag Sam's Falcon wings and fly out there, or call Coulson and have some of his people haul me out there."

Steve opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. A few seconds later, he closed it, and sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

Feeling guilty at having forced my hand, I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against his chest. "I know you want to protect me," I softly said. "But you need to beat Ultron, and the only way you can do that is if you have all the help you can get. I want to help you, and I can."

He put his arms back around my waist. "I just don't want you getting hurt again," he murmured. "I've seen you taken away from me far too many times by dangerous people, and your life put in jeopardy simply because you're my wife."

I heard his voice waver. "If anything happened to you…I'd never forgive myself."

Tears filled my eyes as I snuggled closer to him. "I know. I could give you a whole lecture on putting the greater good first, and us doing what we have to do, no matter what, but I won't. I just need to you trust me to know how to take care of myself when I need to."

Leaning my head back, I gave him a watery smile. "Besides, I'll have Bruce and The Other Guy there to keep me company. I couldn't ask for better protection."

Steve finally gave me a weak smile, and I knew things were okay between us.

I just hoped that we'd both be okay after this whole thing with Ultron was over.

* * *

AN: Review?


	6. In On The Action

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Here's the next chapter, and it's a longer one. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review. Thanks!

 **Chapter 6: In On The Action :**

The flight to Africa was long and awkward. I thought I'd convinced Steve to let me go, and he'd accepted it. Turns out I was wrong, and Steve was still upset at my going, even as we flew towards our destination.

Steve wasn't the only one unhappy about my going, either. When they heard about my decision to join them on the mission to Africa, the Avengers team had been divided.

Steve, Thor and Barton had wanted me to stay at the Tower, or in some kind of safe house back in New York. Maria Hill had said that she'd find a safe spot for me, or watch over me herself, which Steve was more than open to.

Natasha, however, was on my side, and wouldn't hear of my staying behind when I was so determined to go. "Adena's always wanted to be useful," she reminded Steve. "Remember that whole mess in Washington D. C.? If she hadn't been there, you'd probably have bled out on that river's edge."

To my surprise, Bruce sided with me as well. "She can stay with me in the Jet," he tried to assure Steve. "If there's a Code Green and I have to leave her alone, she can lock herself inside. And if she needs to get out of there, JT can take over the controls and fly her away from danger."

When Tony finally joined us, after spending ages in his tech lab, and heard about my going, he was not happy about it. "I don't like the idea of you putting yourself at risk," he said to me. "And Pepper would never forgive me if I let you get hurt, or worse."

His next words, however, surprised both Steve and me. "But I know you won't like staying behind while the rest of us are out there. And since Ultron clearly read up on us, he knows you're Mrs. Captain America; if he's smart, he'll try and get to us through you. He'll find you no matter what, so you're safer with us than somewhere else."

Steve didn't like _that_ one bit. He'd clearly hoped that most of the group would side with him, and somehow convince me to change my mind. Now that he knew there was no persuading me to stay behind, he was forced to give in and let me have my way.

* * *

Lying on the top-most bunk bed, I tried to close my eyes, but couldn't. The large backpack under my head wasn't that great of a pillow, and every once-in-a-while, I felt something digging into some part of my neck or skull.

I sort of had my own self to blame for the contents within the bag, though Natasha had helped me fill it. There were stun weapons inside, namely tasers, and a baton that would electrify when flicked open. There was also some pepper spray, and a few items that, when activated, would make a sound that would shatter the eardrums of anything standing in its line of fire.

"I'm also packing some water, ration bars, cash, and a few other necessities, in case you have to make a break for it," Natasha explained as she tossed those items into the bag. "If things go south and you can't take the Jet, run for the nearest city and contact Maria or Coulson. They'll send someone to come get you to safety."

Neither one of us said that if Ultron ended up winning, no place would be safe.

Sighing, I turned over on the bunk and glanced downwards. After searching the plane, my eyes finally located Steve, and I knew that the cost of winning my way aboard the Quinjet was high. He was standing at the rear of the Jet, gazing out the window, his back straight and his shoulders hunched forwards and tense. The others were giving him a wide berth, knowing that he was angry and likely to lash out at anyone who disturbed him. Not much angered my husband, but when he got upset, people knew to leave him alone. In such an enclosed space, the only way to do that was try and get some sleep during the long flight to the African coast.

Carefully easing my way down to the floor, avoiding a sleeping Tony on the lower bunk, I wove my way around the other Avengers and up to Steve's back. As much as I wanted to put my arms around him, I didn't dare to right then. I knew he'd never hurt me, but it was a bad idea to touch him unexpectedly when he was this upset.

For a while, things remained silent as everyone slept and JT piloted. Steve knew that I was there, but said nothing, the silence stretching out between us until, at last, he took a deep breath and turned around. Neither of us said a word, the two of us staring at one another in the dim lights of the cabin.

I'd once heard that some married couples shared such a strong connection of love and understanding of each other, they were able to communicate without saying a word. As Steve stared into my eyes, I could see the fear and helplessness in his eyes, and I knew he could see the same in mine.

Without a word, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me, long and hard. I returned it, the two of us reminding one another of the strength of our love and our determination. We would work to keep each other, and the world, safe, no matter what.

* * *

As we neared Africa, JT activated the cloaking technology, hiding the Jet from view. The team pulled on their gear, which they'd left off during the long flight so they could sleep comfortably. While they suited up, the group started casting worried glances towards Steve; but when they saw that he looked more relaxed and less angry, they calmed down and finished getting ready.

Before heading out with the others, Natasha reminded me what to do if some of the worst situations happened. I repeated the procedures aloud to her, and when she was satisfied, she pointedly looked towards the others, signaling them to head out, leaving Steve behind for a minute alone with me.

As soon as the others were off the Jet, Steve pulled me into a hug. Putting my lips to his ear, I whispered, "I love you. Be careful."

His reply was a swift, intense kiss. "I love you, too," he whispered, before vanishing out the door.

When he considered the coast to be clear, Bruce came back inside the Jet and closed the hatch. "So, you and Cap seem to have worked things out," he casually stated, smiling as I smacked him gently on the shoulder. "Want to play some Chinese checkers while we wait for a Code Green?"

Smiling, I sat down as he broke out a board for the game and set up the marble game pieces. "Okay, but if I win this time, you have to promise me something."

Bruce gave me a suspicious look. "What would that be?"

I grinned. "You ask Natasha out on a date as soon as we get back."

He blushed, but didn't argue as he moved his first piece on the magnetic board. Both this game, and the waiting one, was on.

* * *

Most people wouldn't feel the least bit comfortable sitting inside a closed container with the Hulk's alter ego. But Bruce was as sweet and quiet as the Hulk was loud and scary, so it wasn't so bad. He made us tea, and tried to keep us both busy while we waited to see what happened during the fight.

The only thing that bothered me was that Bruce wouldn't let me listen in on the communications line. Anything having to do with the fight going on with Ultron was being transmitted to an earpiece tucked away inside Bruce's ear, so that the minute the team decided they needed help, their signal would go directly to him. Once it was clear that he had to go, Bruce would leave me alone in the plane, and after that, I would have to decide how to proceed if things took a turn for the worst.

Needless to say, all of this was enough to give me some serious anxiety. When Steve was out in the field, first with SHIELD and then with the re-assembled Avengers, I'd managed to keep busy doing tasks around the apartment or the Tower. Now, stuck in a plane while my husband fought a murder-bot less than a mile away, I felt like a trapped animal. Inside my head, I imagined all the horrible things that could be happening, and whether or not Steve and our friends would make it out of this one alive.

During one of my horrible imaginings, Bruce got up and began heading for the switch to open the hatch. "Guys, is this a Code Green?" he asked as he moved towards the door.

"Bruce, what are you doing?" I demanded, rushing after him.

He shook his head, concern filling his wide brown eyes. "Something's wrong with the communications systems. I can't hear what they're saying, but from the sounds that are getting through, whatever's going on is bad."

"Then we should stay in here," I firmly told him, reaching to stop him from opening the door.

Bruce shook his head. "But what if they need me and the message can't get through? What then?"

That was a good question. "Then let's take a peek and see if we can figure out what's going on from here. Maybe the thickness of the hull is interfering with the signal."

Reluctantly stepping away from the switch, I let Bruce open the hatch. In the distance, I could see one of the ships in the vast shipyard spewing smoke, and several human-shaped objects flying out of it. Some were probably robots, but hopefully one of them was Tony in his Iron Man suit.

"Adena," Bruce said, a warning tone in his voice. "I see something."

He'd barely finished saying that before a white-and-red blur streaked over from the battle-torn ship. A second or so later, it halted twenty feet away from us, the blur becoming two separate people: a young man with white hair, and a young woman with red-brown hair. Both looked extremely pissed off, and clearly were out for blood.

I immediately realized that these were the twin siblings, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. The boy was super-fast, and his sister had odd hypnotic powers, making them a powerful duo.

I barely had time to think this before the boy, Pietro, rushed over and wrapped his arms around me, pinning my own arms against my sides. Bruce snarled and reached to pull him off of me, but I saw Wanda making quick strides towards us, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Realizing that she was going to try and force Bruce into becoming the Hulk, I went cold with anger. There was a city close to us -if the Hulk was let loose, innocent people were going to get hurt, even killed. The destruction would be catastrophic. I had to do something to stop it.

Luckily, Sam and Natasha had taught me a few self-defense tricks. I brought down the heel of one foot atop Pietro's, causing him to cry out in pain and loosen his grip just enough for me to break free. As he tried reaching for me again, I swiftly brought my knee up, intending to hit him in the crotch, but instead catching him in the stomach.

Either way, he lost his breath and went down, gasping. Now freed, I rushed to throw myself in front of Bruce, just as a bolt of red energy left Wanda's hands, aimed straight for my friend's head. Instead of hitting him, the energy struck my chest and wrapped around me, sending me straight to oblivion as Bruce called out my name.

* * *

Now, I'd had the whole mind-control thing done to me already. Loki and his stupid magic staff had had access to my brain, and the whole experience was something I did _not_ want to repeat.

This time however, was different. Rather than seeing things that were happening, as I had under Loki's power, I was instead lost in some sort of red fog that seemed intent of making me feel afraid and miserable. I didn't actually see any kind of images, like what Maria Hill had said others had experienced, but the feelings of dread and sadness were real enough.

I have no idea why I wasn't affected like others had been. Maybe it was my being exposed to Loki's scepter, and the odd abilities it possessed had caused a sort of immunity to Wanda Maximoff's hypnosis powers?

Whatever the reason, I found myself struggling to collect my thoughts together while sitting slumped down on a bench inside the Jet. Somehow, I managed to get a bottle of chilled water and splash some of it on my face, the cool water snapping me awake and clearing some of the red fog from my brain.

Finally able to think somewhat cohesively, I clutched the bottle in one hand and slowly got to my feet, eyes searching for any sign of the twins. There were none. I guessed that once Wanda had hit me with her best shot, she and her brother had taken off, thinking that I'd be out of it for a while. A quick glance at my watch, however, declared that it had only been a few minutes.

Looking around the plane, I realized that Bruce was nowhere in sight, and began to panic. If Wanda had managed to trigger the Hulk, a lot of people were going to get hurt.

Upon hearing what sounded like boulders hitting the ground repeatedly, I rushed outside. To my horror, there was the Hulk, though he was acting very strangely -it looked almost as though he were drunk or dizzy, staggering around and smashing the ground and anything else within his reach. Though, he seemed to be doing a good job of avoiding the plane, as though he knew that doing so would put me in danger.

In all the times I'd seen Bruce in this form, I'd never seen him act like this. Usually, during a battle, the Hulk just started racing around, destroying anyone who wasn't an Avenger. For him to be so confused that he had no idea what he was doing was extremely out-of-character.

But even in this state, the Hulk was still very dangerous, and I was the only one who could stop him. Luckily, my head had cleared a bit more, so I was able to carefully make my way over to him…

Until I tripped over a rogue tree root and went face-down in the dirt.

Crying out in surprise and pain, I barely managed to keep my face from making contact with the ground as I fell. The dust I kicked up went up my nose and into my mouth, causing me to go into a fight of coughing. The coughs soon intermingled with whimpers as jolts of pain shot up my hands and into my arms. My foot ached, too, but I managed to ignore all of it so that I could focus on what was going on not far from where I lay.

To my surprise, the smashing had stopped, and the Hulk's attention was now entirely on me. He was clearly angry, but he also looked puzzled, and there was a flicker of concern in his eyes, which had a tint of red to them. As soon as I saw that, I knew what to do. Wanda Maximoff had gotten to him, but it didn't look as though his mind had been completely taken over.

"Help me," I pleaded around the coating of dust in my throat. Reaching out a hand, I coughed, "Please; I'm hurt."

The good news was he'd stayed where he was, standing and staring at me and not smashing things. I couldn't help but be relieved about that. But the bad news was that I needed Bruce Banner to look at my ankle and make sure I hadn't seriously damaged it. I'd have to make him change back, and the only way I knew to do that was to lay on a guilt-trip.

"Please," I said, beckoning him closer as I forced myself to start crying. "Please help me."

Precious seconds ticked by as I watching him struggle with his emotions. He clearly wanted to head off and start doing some damage, but the gentler side of him wanted to do the complete opposite. Meanwhile, I waited to see if I would be assisted, or smashed into putty.

At last, just when I thought the Hulk's destructive instincts were going to win, his shoulders slowly slumped forward, as though he'd just been defeated. I watched and waited as he slowly made his way over to me, shaking his head once in a while as though trying to drive an annoying sound away.

Any normal person would instantly go into a panic at the sight of an enormous green hand reaching down towards them, but I wasn't 'normal.' I merely stayed sprawled in the dirt and let that huge hand gently scoop me up and hold me at eye-level with the Hulk, who proceeded to give me a quick once-over. He saw how dusty I was, and the tracks left in it from the tears pouring from my eyes, and that seemed to soften his resolve.

He gently carried me back to the Jet and set me down just inside the open hatch. Once I was safely on my feet, I carefully lowered myself to the floor and began a quick assessment of my injuries. My hands were dusty, and there were a few small cuts and scrapes, but nothing too bad. My arms ached from my fall, but I think an aspirin or two could take care of it.

"Adena?" a voice softly called from outside, right before Bruce staggered in, shirtless and dazed. "Oh, god, are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

I tried to give him reassuring smile. "No; I just tripped when I tried to chase after The Other Guy. Luckily, he wasn't in too bad of a mood, and was willing to help me."

Bruce sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. That witch managed to hit me with a shot of her powers, but since you managed to talk me down, it must have been a weak dose." He eyed me closely. "How'd you get out of it so fast?"

I shrugged. "Maybe, after what Loki did to me three or so years ago, I'm immune or something? I have no idea, but let's not talk about that right now. I'm hurt, but not that badly, I think. How are you holding up?"

He shook his head. "A bit foggy, but decent," he replied as he retrieved a new shirt and a medical kit. "Let me take a look at you."

After a quick inspection, Bruce declared that besides the scrapes and aches, I was in good shape. My ankle hurt, but there wasn't even a sign of a sprain, and he was sure I'd be back on my feet in a day or so, which was a relief.

Once my injuries had been seen to, Bruce cleaned himself up and redressed himself, an unsettled look on his face the whole time. Before I could ask him if he was alright, he came over and hugged me tightly, his face buried in my shoulder as his breathing became labored.

"Thank you, Adena," he whispered. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."

We both knew what would have happened, but neither wanted to say it out loud. Instead, we simply stood there, me hugging the uneasy Bruce until his breathing returned to normal and he was calm again. When we were both sure he wasn't going to spontaneously turn big and green again, he pulled back and went to go check on the rest of the group.

He needn't have bothered. A few minutes after Bruce went to the computer console to try and reestablish communications, a sharp series of raps on the hull signaled that they'd returned. After a quick peek through one of the rear windows, I hurried to lower the hatch and let them in. The sight was a disturbing one.

Thor, Steve, and Natasha had a dazed, troubled, or outright fearful look on their faces. Tony and Barton seemed to have come out of the fight without having been hit by Wanda Maximoff's powers, but they still looked upset.

The minute Steve saw me, he rushed over to pick me up in a tight hug and press a desperate kiss to my lips. He did this every time he had a nightmare about something happening to me, as a means of making sure that I really was alive and well.

When he pulled back a little, I put my hands against his face and gently stroked his cheeks, murmuring to him that everything was okay and that I was fine. While Barton started up the Jet and got us out of there, Steve pulled me over to one of the seats and sat down, pulling me into his lap as I continued to try and comfort him enough to get some rest.

It took some time, but eventually, Steve drifted into a light sleep, his head reclining against the tall back of the chair. Somehow, even in his state of unconsciousness, his arms stayed wrapped around my waist. Meanwhile, my arms, which already ached from my earlier fall, now ached even more from having been held aloft as I stroked Steve's face, hair, and neck as I calmed him down.

After a while, I shifted a little in Steve's lap. As I half-expected, his grip tightened a little, but relaxed as I lay my head against his chest. Soon, the rhythm of his heartbeat slowed, and after a short while, I slowly extracted myself from his grip. His arms did not tighten again, and I took that as a good sign.

Looking at the others, I could see that, besides Barton, no one else was in decent shape. The visions they'd experienced still lingered, and it would be hell for them to try and get to sleep. Bruce sat in a corner, wrapped in a blanket with his headphones on and eyes closed. Thor stood staring at the wall, troubled and confused while Tony attempted to keep himself busy, his fingers fiddling with some odd gadget he was randomly putting together and taking apart.

Natasha, however, was the worst. She sat on the floor in the tightest corner, as far away from everyone as possible, the expression on her face saying it all: whatever Wanda's powers had shown her, it had shaken and rocked her to the core.

Determined to do something to help, even though my ankle was still sore, I slowly moved towards the tiny corner that served as the kitchen. There, I brewed a large pot of hot chamomile tea, with a touch of cream and honey to sweeten it, and served it, one cup at a time. My special, secret "ingredient" to everyone's tea was a single, tiny air-sickness pill from a bottle I always kept handy whenever I traveled. One of the side effects happened to be drowsiness, which was exactly what everyone needed in order to get a bit of sleep.

At first, each of them refused the cup I offered them, but after a little prodding on my part, they accepted and slowly drank. Tony succumbed first, curling up in a ball against the wall and passing out. Bruce got only a little drowsy, but eventually gave in and closed his eyes. Thor did his absolute best to stay awake, but he, too, gave in, lying flat on the ground with a travel pack behind his head as a pillow.

Natasha fought the drug as best she could, but eventually stretched out on one of the bunk beds. Before she did that, though, I caught her giving me a look that said she knew what I'd done. She seem angry, though; just a bit grateful for a small respite.

I wished I dared offer Steve one of the 'special' cups of tea, but I knew that drugs wouldn't work on him. So, I resumed my place in his lap, leaned my head against his chest, and closed my eyes to rest.

* * *

Even though he could slip into sleep, he was actually fairly awake. Steve was very experienced when it came to long journeys, and he'd trained himself to go into a restful doze as soon as he felt comfortable enough.

The warm, comforting presence that was Adena was settled in his lap, leaning against him. He could feel the deep, steady breaths she took, and knew that she was genuinely asleep. But unlike her, he couldn't rest, not with those horrible images still in his head.

Their confrontation with Ultron and the twins hadn't gone as planned. Steve had believed that, between the Avengers, they would have been able to take down their enemies without much difficulty.

He'd been wrong. Not only was Ultron in a new body, it was a stronger one than he'd had at Avengers Tower, and even Tony's Iron Man suit hadn't been enough to take him down.

The twins were just as bad. Using his super-speed, Pietro had managed to deliver a solid hit to Steve's jaw, knocking Steve backwards even as Pietro managed to avoid the shield that had been carefully aimed at him.

Then, when he least expected it, Wanda had hit him with a blast of her powers, and Steve had found himself lost in a blur that sent him straight back to the 1940's.

It was a very chilling scene, with people dancing, singing, drinking and laughing in slow motion. Steve thought he saw familiar faces grinning at him and waving from the crowds, beckoning him to join them for some fun.

Then, another voice called to him, one that he'd never thought he'd hear again. "Are you ready for our dance?"

Turning, he almost felt his heart stop. There stood Peggy Carter, a smile on her face as she held out her hand. She was beautiful in a red silk dress and her hair elegantly done up, almost like that night so long ago, when he'd first put together his team to go fight Red Skull's forces.

"The war is over, Steve," she crooned to him. "We can go home."

Those words made his mind snap back to reality, and once he did, he took a step back. This wasn't what he wanted anymore. Once, years ago, he had wished that he could go back to what was familiar, but those things no longer mattered to him. He hadn't thought of or wanted any of this for a long time, not since he'd started falling in love with Adena.

"No," he said firmly. "It's too late for this. We've both moved on."

With one last smile, Peggy faded away, and in the blink of an eye, in her place was Adena.

But not _his_ Adena; not the woman he loved. No, this one wore an expression of sadness, pain and longing as a hand stretched desperately towards him.

Not hesitating, Steve reached for her, wanting to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be alright. But as his hand started to brush hers, he realized with horror that her palm was covered in blood… _her_ blood.

When he saw that the red of her dress was darkening to a deeper crimson, Steve struggled to call out to her as he fought to get to her side. But his feet would not move, and the closer he got, the further away she drifted, until she was well beyond his reach.

With a final look into his eyes, Adena fell backwards, her body turning to mist as she hit the ground.

Steve had then woken from his vision with a cry, his heart screaming for him to find his wife and make sure that she was alright. The one thing that kept him from doing so was the sound of Barton calling for the team to get back to the plane and regroup.

Somehow, Steve managed to collect himself and Thor, who also appeared to be freeing himself of his trance, and the two of them staggered out of Klaue's ship without encountering any kind of interference. Steve later deduced that Klaue had probably ordered his people to get out, in case Ultron had decided not to spare the vessel and its inhabitants.

The walk back to the Jet had seemed to take forever, but in the end, he managed. Barton had joined them, supporting a nearly catatonic Natasha on one side while Tony held her up from the other. It was Tony who knocked on the hull, asking to be let in, and as soon as he saw Adena standing there, alive, Steve rushed for her.

After that, he remembered Adena doing everything possible to soothe his frayed nerves. She didn't say much, except to utter that everything was fine and they were alright, but he didn't need much more than that. She was alive, whole, and here. That was what mattered.

Now, as she slept in his arms, Steve vowed to never let what happened in his vision come true. He'd nearly lost her so many times already, and if it happened again, this time permanently, Steve knew he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Feeling his love snuggle close against him, Steve took a deep breath and tried to fall into a true sleep. Whatever tomorrow held, he wanted to be rested and ready for it.

* * *

AN: I know, I probably shouldn't have given him the whole Peggy Carter dream thing, but I thought it would be a nice touch. Anyway, please be kind and review? Thanks!


	7. A Safe House

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Quick note: I won't be updating next week, as I'll be out of town and without access to a computer. I will post as soon as I can when I get back. In the meantime, please enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to review. Thanks!

 **Chapter 7: A Safe House :**

The sun was just rising when I woke up, tucked up snuggly in one of the bunk beds in the plane. Beside me, Steve sipped a cup of coffee and chewed on something out of my view, his eyes focused on the floor as he apparently forced himself to eat and drink.

All around the plane, the rest of the group were at various stages of having a morning meal, though everyone was sipping coffee, which filled the confined space with its rich, aromatic scent. Bruce was eating a cup of instant oatmeal with sliced bananas; Tony was popping dried fruits and trail mix, while Natasha and Thor munched on breakfast sandwiches. Barton was still piloting, but with a to-go thermos of instant soup in a cup holder beside him.

Obviously, the sleeping pills I'd put in everyone's tea had worn off. They were only good for about five or six hours, at most, so it was no surprise when everyone had gotten up so early. Though, I figured Natasha had possibly built up a tolerance for that sort of thing, and I had no idea what Asgardian physiology was like, so who knew what time Thor had woken up.

When Steve noticed I was awake, he finished off his food and put his coffee aside so that he could hand me a cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich with eggs and bacon on it. The sandwiches were a staple always kept on the planes, since I couldn't stand the thought of my friends trying to subsist on granola or protein bars.

I accepted my food with a weak smile for my husband, and began eating. The food was heavy and hearty, but since I hadn't eaten in some time, I welcomed it. The hot cocoa gave me a bit of a sugar boost that cleared away the last bits of drowsiness that still lingered.

"Thanks for the sleep drugs, Adena; I really needed it," Tony said out of the blue, his mouth full of food as he winked at me. "Natasha told me about your special mix to the tea."

I sighed. "I just wanted you guys to try and get a little shut-eye. You certainly needed it."

Natasha gave a sympathetic smile at my guilt-ridden face. "Don't worry, we don't blame you," she assured me. "I didn't sleep well, but thanks to you, I did sleep a little."

"Indeed," Thor stated. "My rest was far from quiet, but I am grateful to have at least had it."

Bruce finished off his oatmeal, tossed the container into the trash, and came to sit by me on the lower bunk bed I occupied. "Tranquilizers don't really work well on me, but I'm glad you thought to give me one anyway. I appreciate it."

Steve didn't say anything, but then, I hadn't tried to drug him, which we knew would have been useless. He did give me a smile, though, which was enough to assure me that he'd also slept, at least a bit, and had probably been the one to tuck me into bed.

"Better finish your food soon," Barton called back suddenly. "We're almost there."

"Almost where?" I asked, looking over at Steve, who shrugged.

"We've been asking him that for an hour, and he just won't say," he replied, scowling in the direction of our pilot.

Well, if we were going to land soon, I didn't want to have a hot beverage in my hand!

I polished off my meal, and after Bruce returned to his seat, Steve slid in beside me and put an arm around my shoulder. Pulling me close, he put his nose against my ear and sighed –that was the signal something was wrong with him, and I knew what it had to be.

Turning my head so that my words reached only his ears, I whispered, "What did she make you see?"

Steve's arm tightened around my waist, and I knew the answer. He'd been shown the thing the scared him most, and that was the fear of losing me. Words were a bit useless at this point; I simply snuggled close, pressed a kiss to his lips, and leaned my head against his shoulder, the two of us remaining that way until we felt the plane begin to descend.

* * *

About half an hour later, we touched down in a large field attached to a big farmhouse.

Puzzled, we stayed quiet as we followed Barton out of the plane and along a path that led to the house. The whole walk, Barton supported Natasha with one arm, while Steve and I looked as though we were glued to each other's side.

As we approached the house, I couldn't help but look around at the idyllic sight. The house was a quaint faded yellow (or really aged white), at least two levels (with a possible attic at the top), and a wrap-around porch. It looked as though it belonged in a lemonade commercial, or a scene from _The_ _Wizard of Oz_.

Barton led us through a swinging screen door, calling out, "Honey? I'm home!"

A woman with long dark hair appeared from another room, a surprised and puzzled look on her face when she saw us all standing in her house. I quickly noticed that she was pregnant, and even though Tony was insisting that she had to be an agent of some kind, it was clear from the way she acted that this woman had to be Barton's girlfriend or wife.

"Everyone," Barton said to all of us, "This is Laura."

She gave us an awkward wave and a smile. "I know all of your names."

Above came the rapid footsteps of several pairs of feet racing for the stairs. Barton looked up with a smile and gave us an apologetic warning of, "Incoming," as two young kids appeared; a boy and a younger girl.

"Daddy!" cried the little girl as she was swept up into her father's arms.

"These are…smaller agents," Tony tried to reason out loud, as though he could make that true.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" the girl eagerly asked her dad as she looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" Natasha replied, sweeping up the eager girl into her arms.

Steve shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he apologized for barging in on the unsuspecting family.

"Yeah, we would have called, but we were busy having no idea that you existed," Tony sarcastically remarked, crossing his arms and clearly looking offended at having not been let in on his team member's secret.

While the others appeared to be trying to process the fact that Clint Barton, the oh-so-quiet Hawkeye, was married with kids, I watched the couple with a bit of envy. How had they managed to stay under the radar when Steve and I had to fight for privacy?

"Yeah, Fury set this up for me when I joined," Barton replied, his arms around his wife and son. "He kept it off of SHIELD's files. I'd like to keep it that way."

I, meanwhile, was kicking myself. Why hadn't I thought of that? I could have asked Fury to not put my marriage to Steve on the agency's files, so why hadn't I?

' _Because you had no idea that SHIELD would fall_ ,' I reasoned to myself. ' _You didn't know about HYDRA, or any of that stuff. You thought that Fury would do everything possible to keep you and Steve safe, and to a point, he did_.'

It was too late to change any of that now. People knew about me and Steve, and there was nothing to do but get used to it. Maybe, someday, it would calm down and we could try and live a bit of a normal life, but with the way things were going, it probably wouldn't be for a while.

"Hey, sweetie," Natasha was saying to Laura as she gave her a hug. "I've missed you." She looked at her friend's belly with a smile. "How's little Natasha doing?"

"She is…" Laura gave a small apologetic smile, "Nathaniel."

Natasha looked surprised before pouting a little as she bent towards the large bump. "Traitor," she whispered, though she clearly didn't look too upset.

Behind me, I heard heavy footsteps as one of the team headed outside. Turning, I caught Thor and Steve stepping out onto the porch, but didn't follow; it looked like a 'guys moment,' so I decided to stay where I was and get to know Barton's family better.

While Natasha, who was clearly familiar with the house, immediately went upstairs after greeting the family, Laura sent the children outside before turning her attention towards me, a welcoming smile on her face as she came to greet me.

"Mrs. Rogers?" she said, taking and shaking my hand. "I'm thrilled to finally meet you. Clint talks about you and Captain Rogers all the time."

I returned her smile. "Thanks. Your husband really is a great guy to be around."

She motioned towards the stairs. "Do you want to get cleaned up? I think, between what Nat has stored here and my own closet, we can get you cleaned up and find you something clean and comfortable to wear."

Excited at the prospect of a shower, I was more than willing to follow, but only after I was sure that everyone was accounted for and getting their own need seen to. I also wanted to wait for Steve, since I had no idea why he was outside with Thor.

When Steve came back in alone, I was surprised, but not as much as I was by his troubled expression. He wouldn't tell me what was wrong, but when I mentioned a shower and some clean clothes, he brightened up a little.

Laura led the remaining members of the group upstairs, and explained that there were three options we could use to clean up: a shower in the master bedroom suite, another in a guest bathroom, and one small bathtub tucked away in a back corner. Tony and Bruce took the guest bathroom, while Natasha claimed the bathtub. Laura was kind enough to let Steve and I have the master bath, and after picking out some clothing items for the others, she gave us permission to raid the closets for whatever fit us before heading to visit the rest of the group.

Left to our own devices, Steve and I stood in the middle of a large bedroom that wasn't ours, the silence awkward as we looked at one another, unsure as to who should break the quiet first. Finally, just as I was about to force myself to say something, Steve reached out and grabbed me, pulling me tightly into his arms as he pressed an urgent, passionate kiss to my lips.

Surprised, I stiffened, but didn't struggle, which only encouraged him. A minute later, I was swept up into my husband's arms and being carried into the bathroom, Steve kicking the door shut behind us.

* * *

"I saw you die," Steve whispered an hour later as he held me. "That was the vision playing in my head."

The two of us currently stood in the center of the bedroom again, only this time we were cleaned up and dressed in some clothes borrowed from our hosts' closets.

During our time in the bathroom, Steve hadn't said a word; he hadn't needed to. I knew that he had desperately needed me, and that need had been building since we'd left Africa. Now that his anxieties had been calmed, he was ready to talk about what had happened with the Maximoffs.

My arms around his neck, I murmured into his ear, "I know. Every time something bad happened to me, I could see the fear in your face. When you got onto the plane in Africa, I knew that's what you had to have seen."

I felt him take a deep breath. "I don't think I could bear it if something happened to you," he whispered, his voice tense as he held me.

"And I can't promise that nothing will," I replied. "Things happen; we both know that. The best we can do is try to move forward, have hope that things will turn out for the best, and have the courage and strength to see it all through."

He sighed again and nodded. "I know."

A loud knock on the closed door drew our attention, as did the voice coming through it. "Come on, Cap!" Tony called. "They need wood for the fireplace, and you and I got the job!"

This time, we both sighed as we slowly pulled back from one another. Steve gave me one last kiss before heading outside, and I was prevented from following by Laura coming and asking if I could help entertain the kids while she talked to Clint. I agreed, and headed downstairs, where my two charges were waiting.

* * *

Using the kids as a distraction was a brilliant plan. Granted, Laura mostly likely really did need someone to keep an eye on her little ones, but it was a way of hitting two birds with one stone.

As I entered the kitchen, the kids rushed up to me, introducing themselves to me as Cooper and Lila. Both had their mother's looks, their father's easy humor, and the blessed innocence, curiosity, and eagerness of children living a normal life on a farm.

Cooper was at that awkward age that teetered between childhood and teenage years, but he seemed to be clinging to childhood a bit longer. Energetic and cheerful, he loved showing me his report cards, artwork, and all sorts of things from his school. From the abundant amount of facts that poured from him, it was clear he was one smart kid.

Lila was a sweetheart, with large brown eyes that made me want to say ' _aww_ ' whenever I looked into them. She was full of questions about me, Steve, and the other Avengers, and as I brushed and redid her hair, I was more than happy to answer, though I was careful about what I said. Lila was only a kid, after all, and there were lots of things she really didn't need to know.

After a while, Clint came down and called for Cooper to join him outside to help with a project of some kind. Laura came into the kitchen, and when she saw her daughter in my lap, coloring in one of Lila's favorite coloring books, she smiled.

"Care for a cup of tea?" she offered. "It looks like you could use one."

I accepted, and smiled as Lila asked which color I wanted her to use on the flowers. I told her to surprise me, and laughed as she colored each petal a different color, making for a very psychedelic picture. When Laura came to set my tea down, she saw the picture and laughed.

"Very nice, sweetie," she told her daughter. "Why don't you go upstairs and add it to the ones you want to show Auntie Nat?"

Lila gave me one last hug before grabbing the various coloring books and papers she'd been working on and vanishing upstairs, leaving us adults to ourselves. For a moment, things were quiet as Laura and I loaded milk and sugar into our tea, followed by us taking tentative sips and awkwardly avoiding eye contact.

Finally, Laura looked at me and smiled. "You know, Clint told me a lot about you and Captain Rogers. I've always wondered what you'd be like –the only other woman in the world married to an Avenger."

Chuckling, I sat back in my chair, the tea cup warm and comforting in my hands. "Oh, I'm nothing special, though Steve would argue otherwise. I was just an ordinary girl who got swept up by unusual people to do an unusual job. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, I was in love and married to Steve. Life had been one big adventure since the day I met him."

"I'll bet," Laura agreed. "I can't imagine how difficult it must be, though, living in the spotlight like you do. I know I couldn't do it."

I couldn't help but sigh. "It is pretty hard. Things weren't so bad when Nick Fury was looking out for us, but ever since the events in Washington D.C. last year, it's gotten harder to lead a normal life. Tony helps when he can, but walking around with security guards hovering over you just makes things worse. All we can do is put up with it and go on with our lives."

Looking at the table, I noticed that Lila had left one of her pictures behind, one of a very odd-shaped whale, or an elephant. "They're great kids. Cooper is quite smart, and Lila is just adorable." I glanced at her belly and grinned. "I'm sure little Nathaniel is going to turn out just as great as his older siblings."

Laura chuckled and rubbed her bulging stomach. "Well, I'm not looking forward to being outnumbered, but I do count us blessed."

She snuck a glance at me. "Have you and the Captain ever thought about kids?"

Now _that_ was a question, one which had no clear answer.

The topic of children wasn't one that popped up often in my marriage to Steve. We were always too busy; first with Steve's work for SHIELD, then with the whole agency toppling, leaving us unprotected and Steve unemployed. After that, there had been our search for Bucky, and now with the Avengers doing their heroics around the world, the idea of kids never really popped up.

Deep inside, I knew that Steve and I both thought about having them. Steve would be a great dad, and I could just picture him tossing a little boy or girl up into the air, the two of them laughing and having a wonderful time.

But what would we do after we had a baby? Once this whole thing with Ultron was over, Steve would certainly go back to saving the world, leaving me behind with an infant. I didn't want to raise a child by myself, like Laura was doing –I wanted Steve to play a part in our child's life. Oh, he would _try_ and be there, but how often would he be allowed to take a break from saving the world to spend time with me and our child? If he quit being Captain America, he would be viewed as being selfish by the public; if he didn't, the time he spent with us would, at best, be minimal.

' _He'd have to choose between our family, and being Captain America. He would have to pick either his own life, or the lives of everyone he could possibly save_.'

It was an impossible choice, and one I wasn't sure Steve would be able to make. Would he choose a family over the greater good? I know that would tear him in two –he was a noble, good-hearted man, and being selfish wasn't in his nature.

On the other hand, I knew that Steve loved me more than anything in the world, and that he would literally rip the world apart to save me and keep me safe. And if we had children, I had no doubt that he would do the exact same thing for them.

"Complicated, huh?" Laura asked, an understanding smile on her face. "I'm glad Clint and I didn't wait. I support his 'Avenging,' but when I look at the others that make up the team, they're all basically gods among men. I know that they need someone like Clint, and you, to keep them grounded and human, and I know the world needs heroes, but our children also need a father."

Her words made me realize something I'd ultimately forgotten. Steve really was more than a normal man: he had that scientific serum in him. If we had children, would they turn out like him, or like me? Would I give birth to a future Captain America, or a completely normal child who might resent being unable to follow in their father's footsteps?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of small feet rushing downstairs, and I soon found myself with Lila back in my lap, a large, pink plastic box in her hands that rattled when it shifted.

"What have you got there?" I asked as she began unlatching the top.

"Hair stuff!" she cheerfully told me when the lid popped open, revealing dozens of hair accessories.

Uh, oh; apparently I was in for a makeover.

* * *

Wiping some sweat from his brow, Steve headed inside. Tony had gone off into the barn to fix a broken tractor, leaving Steve to finish chopping wood for the stove. It didn't bother him, though; he'd needed time to think.

Inside his head, he was struggling to process the idea of Clint Barton having a family and a quaint, quiet house far away from the troubles of the world. It was everything Steve had wanted all his life, tied up in a neat package, and it belonged to someone else.

Well, that was a bit unfair. Steve did (in his opinion) have the best woman in the world as his wife. Adena had stayed with him through thick and thin, supporting him all through that disaster in Washington and with Bucky. She had agreed with the idea of re-assembling the Avengers, knowing that he would be putting his life in danger time and again.

But it was the normal life that Steve craved, for him and Adena. A nice house someplace safe, where they could go settle down and, some day, start a family. It was something Steve had always wanted, and when he'd met Peggy Carter, he'd imagined that sort of life for them after the War.

And yet, on closer thought, he knew that it wouldn't have happened, not with Peggy. She had worked long and hard to become an agent for her government, and it had taken time for him to realize, after emerging in this century, that she would never have given all that up easily. Peggy had loved being an agent, and she had been good at it; as much as she might love Steve, she'd never have given up her job without a fight. There would have been endless arguments between them, with Steve asking her to try and be a normal wife and mother, and Peggy telling him that being an agent was part of who she was -a part that she had no intention of tossing aside.

In Adena, Steve had a wife who loved him more than anything in the world, and would do anything to make sure that he was happy, whether or not it made _her_ happy. She did everything she could to help his fellow Avengers and him when they were in battle, and would stay up well into the early morning hours, making sure they were in good health after a fight.

But having someone he considered the perfect match for him was only half of his dream. When would he be able to achieve the other? He wanted to see little girls and boys running around a house in the suburbs, with him and Adena keeping a sharp eye on the kids as they played in the yard.

Sighing, Steve finished chopping and headed inside, the sound of a little girl's laughter drawing him to the kitchen. There, he found Adena with Clint's daughter in her lap; their hair was pulled into braids and ponytails, decorated with various hair clips and ties. Laura Barton looked on in amusement as she prepared dinner, apparently comfortable with this complete stranger looking after her child.

The sight of Adena with a little girl in her lap made Steve's breath catch in his throat. Maybe, once this whole mess was over, they would have a very long talk about their future.

* * *

AN: Review?


	8. The Next Move

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: I'm back! Here is the next chapter. I kind of modified how this went from the movie, to make it read different. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review. Thanks.

 **Chapter 8: The Next Move :**

After getting a makeover from Lila, I was able to send her off to play in her room while I helped Laura with dinner. She really had no idea how much the team consumed in one sitting, especially when Steve and Thor ate more than the rest of the team put together. Since Thor wasn't here, however, there should be enough to go around.

We managed to toss together a nice big pot of spaghetti and meatballs, with a side salad, and sent the kids to gather the others together for the meal. It took a little while, since they were all scattered around the farm, but eventually, everyone found their way to the table.

To make room for his fellow Avengers, Clint had his family seated at a separate, smaller table in another room while the team gathered around the large oak dining table in the kitchen. It was an odd contrast: I could hear laughter, chatter and excitement from the Barton family as they ate their meal, but where I was seated, it was a completely different picture.

All of my friends, as well as Steve, seemed sluggish, and were all rather quiet. For a little while, they picked at their food, but after the first couple bites, they dug in with more enthusiasm. I watched them like a hawk, making sure that everyone was eating and weren't too traumatized by what had happened in Africa.

After dinner, Laura produced a large jar full of chocolate chip cookies, which made us all perk up quite a bit. Coffee and tea were served with the cookies, and not long after that, the kids headed upstairs for bedtime stories and to be tucked in by their parents.

When the little ones and Laura were in bed, I was pouring everyone another round of hot drinks when I heard a step in the doorway that led out back. Since I knew that everyone was already inside, I immediately tensed, ready to throw the kettle of hot water at whomever it was.

"Good to see you again, Adena," said a familiar, no-nonsense voice.

Turning, I was shocked to see Nick Fury standing there, a scowl on his face as he crossed his arms. He was clearly not happy –but then, he always looked that way. In all the time I'd known him, I'd rarely seen him crack a smile.

"Is there anything left from dinner?" he asked, moving into the room. "Don't leave an old man standing here hungry."

Luckily, there were leftovers, so Natasha heated some up for him while I got him some coffee. The disapproving scowl on his face softened after the first few sips, and after he'd annihilated the plate of pasta, Nick pushed the empty dishes away and sat back in his chair.

"So, what are you doing here?" Steve asked from his seat beside me.

Fury shrugged. "I heard that you guys were having difficulties with something that could potentially destroy the world," he replied, glancing over at me. "I thought I told you to keep these guys out of trouble?"

I frowned at him and crossed my arms. "Hey, I'm only one person! Do you know how frustrating it is, having to sometimes be the only voice of common sense in a room full of people who _love_ making rash decisions? You _know_ that stopping any of them from doing something stupid is impossible."

Steve gave me a hurt look, but I wasn't going to take back what I'd said. "Don't you look at me like that! Weren't you the one jumping out of planes without parachutes after I told you _not_ to do anything idiotic on your missions?"

He wisely kept his mouth shut, as did the others, who all tried to avoid eye contact with me as much as possible.

Fury sighed. "Well, you're right about that. I came to give you a status report on what's been happening. Apparently, Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts say that he's building something, and with all the Vibranium he stole, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, clenching the cup he held in his hands.

"Oh, he's easy to track; he's everywhere," Fury replied. "He's multiplying like a Catholic rabbit. We still don't know any of his plans, though."

Tony took up a handful of darts and began playing with a board on the far side of the room as Barton came down to join us. "He still going after the launch codes?" Tony asked as he tossed a dart.

"Yes, but he's not making any headway," Fury said, pouring another cup of coffee.

"I hacked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a _dare_ ," Tony remarked, rather arrogantly.

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at his smugness, but I had to admit, he was right. Ultron was Tony's creation; why wasn't he as smart, or smarter, than his creator? Hadn't he been programmed that way?

Fury shrugged. "Well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that-"

"NEXUS?" Steve asked, looking over at me. I could only shrug, since I had no idea what that was.

"The world internet hub in Oslo, Norway," Bruce replied. "Every bite of data from all over the world flows through there."

"What'd they say?" Barton asked, leaning against as wall and crossing his arms.

"That he's fixated on the missiles," Fury replied. "But the codes are constantly being changed."

I was as puzzled as anyone else. "By whom?" I asked.

"Party's unknown," Fury said, taking a sip from his cup.

"We have an ally?" Natasha asked, sounding hopeful.

"Or Ultron's got an enemy," I sarcastically replied. "Might not be the same thing, but that just makes it a little easier for us."

"It'd be a good idea to head to Oslo," Tony muttered, his tone thoughtful. "You know; to find our unknown ally or non-enemy."

Natasha looked as impatient as I felt. "Well, that's great, boss, but I was kind of hoping you'd have something more than that," she retorted.

"I do," he said, as though it were obvious. "I have you."

I smiled, and gave a burst of air through my nose, which drew Steve's attention. He knew I was amused at something and nudged me with his arm. "What is it?" he asked, getting the attention of everyone else.

"You know; he has a point," I said, fiddling with my cup a little. "You're Earth's Mightiest Heroes. You've fought against an _alien invasion_ and come out the winner. You save hundreds of lives every time you go out on your missions, and hundreds more whenever you take a cache of weapons or technology out of the hands of terrorists, smugglers, and HYDRA."

I reached out and took Steve's hand in mine. "This may be bigger than the alien invasion of New York, but this team is the only thing that can save the world. You've done it before, and you'll do it again."

Bruce gave me an odd look. "How do you know that?" he asked, doubtfully.

I smiled at him. "Because I believed in you three years ago," I replied. "I believe in you every time you went out on your missions, and even though you doubt yourselves, I _still_ believe in you now. I have faith that you can do this."

"She's right," Fury admitted. "Get out there and outwit the platinum bastard."

Natasha gave a slight pout as she teased, "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

My husband turned a glare at her. "You know what, Romanoff?" he said, about to say something else, but was stopped by my hand squeezing his.

"So what does Ultron want?" Fury asked.

Steve shifted a little. "To become better –better than us."

Tony looked thoughtful. "He keeps building bodies," he muttered, rubbing his chin. "Human-form bodies, but the human body isn't efficient. For some reason, he keeps coming back to it."

Bruce, who was strolling by a side table, picked up a drawing and showed it to us. "He wants to evolve," he said, displaying a painting of a butterfly, which had been made by Lila earlier today. "Ultron is going to evolve."

I stared at him. "How?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce asked.

* * *

Things moved very quickly after that.

Right after Bruce's epiphany about Dr. Cho, he went to give her a call, but wasn't able to get through. That was reason enough to make him worry. "Someone always picks up at her lab, no matter what hour it is," he told us. "They're always working on something, and even when they're busy, there's someone watching the phones."

That was when the group started creating a plan of attack. Tony would go to Oslo, to see what he could find in their computer systems. Bruce and I would go to the Tower, while Barton, Natasha and Steve headed to Korea, to see what was going on at Helen's lab.

"We'll need a good night's rest before heading out at first light," Steve said, looking around at everyone. "Up before dawn, eat, suit up, and then we'll hit the ground running."

Everyone headed to their designated sleeping areas after that: Natasha and I shared a guest room, while Bruce, Tony and Steve slept downstairs in the living room. I wish I could say that I slept well, but it'd be a lie. I knew that everyone was worried about what was going to happen tomorrow, and it made for some seriously rough sleeping.

Natasha apparently had some sort of internal clock, or she was used to keeping early hours here on the farm, because she woke a good hour or so before dawn. Her movements woke me from the light doze I'd slipped into, and after quickly dressing, I quietly made my way downstairs, where Laura was dolling out breakfast to Bruce and Steve. The kids were still upstairs, sleeping without a clue that their dad was heading out to save the world once more.

Tony, meanwhile, took his time getting up, and by the time he actually joined us, we'd finished eating and Steve had gone to get into his Captain America gear.

Tony, however, didn't really mind the glares he was getting for waking up late. "I'm going to take my private jet to Oslo, and eat on the way there," he said, waving aside Clint's offer to heat up something. "I called them while you guys ate."

At that point, Steve came in, dressed and ready to head out. "I'll take Natasha and Clint as soon as they're ready," he said.

Tony nodded. "Okay; strictly recon, remember. While you do that, I'll hit the NEXUS and meet up with you as soon as I can."

Steve shifted on his feet as we started to head towards the door. "If Ultron's building a new body…"

"It'll be more powerful than any of us," Tony replied. "An android designed by a robot? It might be more powerful than all of us."

My husband sighed. "You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was _me_."

Smiling, I pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Weird science or not, I still love you anyway." He smiled and returned the kiss, putting his arm around me to pull me close.

With a flourish of his trademark black leather coat, Fury joined us. "I'll drop Banner and Adena off at the Tower. Do you mind if I borrow Miss Hill?"

"She's all yours," Tony retorted, "Apparently. What are you going to do?"

Fury just gave him a smirk. "I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope." He looked at me. "Ready, Adena?"

Steve's arm around me tightened, and I knew he wanted a proper 'goodbye' before we separated. "Um, just a minute, sir?" I hinted, looking at him and Tony. The others had already headed for their transportation, leaving the four of us in the house.

Tony headed outside as though his feet were on fire, while Fury nodded towards the backdoor. "My jet is on the other side of the barn," he said. "Come out when you're ready, but make it quick."

Then Steve and I were alone, and the second we were, he turned so that he could look me straight in the eyes. "I really wish you'd stay here," he said. "You'll be safe here with Laura and the kids."

I shook my head. "No. The Tower will be safe enough, and I'll have Bruce there to protect me. Besides, I can be the main point of communication between all of you, with help from JT. I can keep everybody posted on everything that's going on, in Oslo or Korea."

Glancing out the windows, I saw Bruce pacing back and forth on the porch. "Besides, Bruce will need me to keep him company; you know how anxious he'll be, worrying about Natasha and Helen."

Steve sighed and pulled me into a hug. "I love you," he whispered as I returned the embrace.

Pulling back a little, I kissed him softly. "I love you, too. Stay safe, and remember to not do anything stupid. Clint and Natasha may have your back, but if you get yourself killed, I'll never forgive you."

He smiled, since it was pretty much the same speech I gave him every time he went out.

With one last kiss, he headed out the door, running for the Quinjet that we'd arrived in. As I turned to head out, I found Laura standing by the backdoor, a sad smile on her face.

"I'm glad I got to meet you, Adena," she said, coming to give me a hug. "There aren't a lot of people in the world I can find something in common with, but I count you as one of them."

Laughing a little, I returned the hug. "Same here. Not everyone can be married to an Avenger and still keep their sanity!"

We both laughed at that as we pulled back from one another. Before I could leave, Laura went and pulled a small paper bag out of the fridge. "I'm not sure how long of a travel time you have, but I hope this will tide you over until you get there."

Inside the bag was a ham sandwich, a cookie, and a juice box. Clearly, the juice box was Lila's idea.

"Thanks," I whispered. "I wish I could say that I'll keep in touch, but if Clint wants to keep you guy secret…"

"Well, at least come visit us sometime," she said. "Natasha and Fury do; why not you?"

She rubbed her belly. "Besides, I could use another hand with the kids, and Cooper and Lila love having a new friend around."

I agreed, and gave her one more hug before running out towards the barn.

Behind it stood Fury, who offered me a hand to board the Jet, which stood invisible against the landscape, except for the open hatch. I accepted his help, but not without one last glance towards the house. Maybe, after this was over, Steve and I could visit, this time for some genuine peace and quiet.

But right now, there was some serious business to take care of. Everything else would have to wait.

* * *

AN: A rather quiet chapter this time, but there will be more fun and excitement in the next chapter. Please review?


	9. Waiting is the Hardest Part

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: So, word of warning: I'm going to be making a few major changes to the movie canon from this chapter onwards. I hope that people will like it. Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review.

 **Chapter 9: Waiting is the Hardest Part :**

Playing the part of a waiting spouse has always been difficult for me.

When Steve had first joined SHIELD, I'd kept myself busy with volunteer work, shopping for groceries, frequent visits to the library, and just staying out of the house as much as possible, so that I wouldn't miss him so much. When we'd been looking for Bucky, I did my best to sort through whatever information Steve and Sam obtained, searching for clues about his location while they combed whatever city we were in at the time. And after Steve rejoined the Avengers, I had Sam as a distraction whenever I went out, and the resources of the Tower when I was asked to assist with the team's missions.

This was worse than all of those.

Like the alien invasion, Ultron was a global threat, one that was determined to wipe out all life on Earth. To keep that from happening, my husband was going to face down a huge robot on the other side of the world, while I sat in Avengers Tower and imagined all the horrible things that could happen to him.

And unlike the other times Steve had gone out with the Avengers, I wasn't able to go out in public; I didn't have a guard (since Sam was still at his conference), and there was a chance one of Ultron's minions might grab me to use as leverage, so I didn't dare risk it. I couldn't even be much of a help to the others, since the Tower's computer systems were compromised, and Jarvis was gone.

Needless to say, it was not a pleasant experience for me. Even though I did have Bruce around for company, he was busy trying to figure out the best way to beat the Avengers' newest foe. Since Tony was in Norway, all of the technological and scientific stuff rested on Bruce's shoulders.

From the moment we were dropped off by Nick Fury, Bruce had been going through what was left of the Tower's files, trying to find anything that seemed important or that could be used against Ultron. However, as she was getting on the plane with Fury, Maria Hill had told us that, even though she'd done what she could to organize the computer database, Ultron had left our files in a huge mess, with wide gaps where information should be. It made things more difficult for Bruce, but he seemed to enjoy the challenge.

As for me, I was simply trying to keep myself from going crazy, specifically by looking after Bruce. I made sure that he ate, drank, and caught a nap or two whenever he looked ready to fall over from exhaustion. This was as much for my benefit as it was for his –looking after him meant that I wasn't worrying about Steve.

When I wasn't tending to Bruce, I had an earpiece tucked into my ear, so that I could listen to JT's quiet updates on Steve. Through the tracking chip in his suit, I at least knew he was alive and well. JT had promised to alert me as soon as the Jet landed in Korea, and would give me live information as much as possible.

I didn't spend all my time fussing over Bruce, however. There was only so much attention he could take, and I needed to eat and sleep too, though I did neither of those things very well. I barely managed to snag a snack while watching Bruce work, or grab a nap whenever I could, but that was it.

About twenty-four hours after the team had separated at Barton's farm, JT let me know that Tony was on his way back, and I was to make sure that everything was set up in the lab, so that it was ready for whatever strange ideas might be brewing in Tony's head.

A few hours later, just as Tony was walking in, JT's voice announced that Clint was calling me. Reaching up, I pressed the button on the earpiece as Bruce and Tony gave me puzzled looks. I motioned for them to be silent as I answered.

"Barton?" I said, focusing on what he might have to say. "What's going on?"

"Adena, I'm sorry," he said over the _whir_ of Jet engines. "Steve told me to get back here, and I couldn't say 'no.' I wish I had good news."

Breathing heavily, I turned and raced for the landing area, completely ignoring the other two men. I barely registered the fact that Bruce and Tony were running after me, the three of us arriving at the landing dock just as the Jet's rear hatch opened.

I didn't hesitate; I immediately ran for the Jet, and as Barton came out, I was there, grilling him for details about what had happened. He looked haunted, sad, and more than a little agitated, his fingers twitching and clenching as he tried to answer my questions.

"We had no choice but to confront Ultron," he said, as Bruce and Tony joined us. "When we got there, he'd already attacked Helen Cho's lab. Steve went in to check it out, and reported that Cho is alive, but hurt; Ultron and his other robots had killed or seriously wounded her staff as they made a break for it. Last I heard over the wire, the wounded were on their way to the hospital, but that was a while ago."

He turned towards Bruce. "You might want to keep a close eye on your phone. I think Dr. Cho or one of her people might call you about what happened." Bruce nodded, and motioned for Barton to keep talking.

With a wave towards the interior of the Jet, Barton sighed. "Ultron had already fled the facility when the Captain went in to assess the situation. A large shipping truck was making for a nearby airport, where a private jet was waiting. We had no choice but to engage. The Captain managed to distract him while Natasha and I took out his robot minions and got what he was transporting."

Barton swallowed hard. "During the fight, Natasha was taken by Ultron. I don't know where."

I felt my heart drop. "And Steve?" I whispered as I struggled to breathe.

He swallowed again. "He was trying to save people on a runaway commuter train that had been attacked by Ultron. Last I checked, Cap was alive."

My heart lifted a bit as I realized that JT hadn't mentioned anything about Steve's vital signs changing. Steve was alive, and I knew that he was going to come back to me.

"I have resources in Korea," Tony said, pulling out a cell phone. "The Captain and I discussed a 'what-if' situation like this before we left Barton's farm. Cap knows where there's a spare Jet; the computer onboard has pre-programmed coordinates for the Tower. It'll get him here fast."

That was an even bigger relief. "Thanks," I softly said with a smile. "Bruce, why don't you go check to see if Dr. Cho called?"

Tony motioned towards the inside of the Jet. "I think I'm going to take a peek at what Barton brought."

I had to admit, I was curious, too. Stepping into the Jet with the guys, my breath caught. What I was looking at went far beyond anything I'd ever imagined.

* * *

Helen Cho's battered face look at us through the view screen. One of her fellow scientists had smuggled a tablet computer to her in the hospital, so that she could tell us what was going on.

"Ultron came into my lab and held everyone hostage," she said, eyes watering as she remembered what had happened. "He ordered me to use the Vibranium to create a new, perfect body for him. I refused, but he used that horrible scepter on me. After that, I had no choice but to do it."

"We don't blame you," I assured her, which seemed to make her feel better.

"It was amazing, what I discovered," she said, glancing over at Bruce. "The Vibranium merged perfectly with the tissues and the technology! This will change everything about my work!"

Bruce and Tony both looked interested, but held off any science or tech talk as Helen continued. "I began work on the new body at once, but for some reason he seemed interested in another project I was working on, one that I'd started before he arrived."

She hesitated a moment, then began tapping around on the tablet. A file popped open on the screen, and the four of us all gathered to look closer. "It was simply an idea I had on my computer," she said. "I'd begun experimenting with various metals and materials weeks ago, but never dreamed of making it come to reality so soon."

It was a blueprint of a type of skin covering or coating, much like what she'd used on Barton after he'd been shot in Sokovia. However, the plan moved and became one with a plan for a full body outline, with notes appearing to the right of it. Apparently she was trying to come up with a way to make full-body skin grafts for people who were injured in accidents or fires.

"Ultron saw these in my computer, and decided that he wanted a backup body," Helen explained. "For the primary body, he had me merge Vibranium and human tissue. The backup involves less Vibranium, though it is mixed with a few other metals, as well as organic tissue."

I glanced over at the huge canisters behind us on the floor. One held a body of purple and silver; the other was of a similar design, only blue, with a silvery coating, as well as strips of silvery metal running along the limbs. I had to admit, they were very impressive, and rather beautiful to look at.

"Ultron also used the gemstone of some kind on both of them," Helen said, her voice fading a little with exhaustion. "I don't know how, but it helped create the complicated brain matrix that's needed for the bodies to have fully developed mental capabilities."

Turning back towards the screen, I gave Helen a small smile. "Why don't you try and get some rest? You'll need it, if you want to recover faster."

She nodded and signed off, leaving the four of us alone to ponder the two forms in the containers.

"Any word on Nat?" Bruce asked as Barton began to try and pry the containers open.

"Not yet," Tony replied. "She's got to be alive; otherwise, Ultron would be rubbing it in our faces."

"These things are sealed tight," Barton complained, glaring at the sealed glass boxes.

"We're going to need to access their programs," Bruce informed us as he went to check on one of the monitors nearby. "Break whatever it is down from within."

Tony, meanwhile, pulled Barton aside. "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the Internet? You know; old-school spy stuff?"

Clint looked thoughtful. "There are a couple ways. I'll check it out and keep you posted."

As soon as Barton was gone, Bruce headed over to the crates. "I could work on the tissue degeneration while Tony fries whatever systems Cho and Ultron implanted. Adena, you can help me with some of this while I work."

Tony shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Yeah, about that…"

Bruce and I looked over at him, and seeing the look on his face, immediately realized what he was thinking. "No," we both said at the same time.

"You gotta trust me," Tony insisted, trying to use a pleading look on us.

"Kind of don't," Bruce replied as I nodded in agreement.

"Our ally, the guy protecting the military nuclear codes?" Tony said, looking at both of us. "I found him."

With a wave of his hand, he brought up a glowing image in the center of the room that moved when it said, "Hello, Dr. Banner, and Mrs. Rogers."

"Oh, my god," I whispered. It was Jarvis!

Tony nodded. "Ultron didn't go after Jarvis because he was angry. He did it because he was scared of what Jarvis could do. Jarvis went underground, hiding out in the internet, where I managed to piece his scattered memory together."

Bruce rubbed his head, looking as though he were experiencing a migraine. "So, you want me, to help you put Jarvis into one of these things?" He motioned towards the two containers and their contents.

"No!" Tony said with a smile. "I want to help _you_ put Jarvis into one of these things."

"I don't like this," I firmly told him. "Didn't you learn your lesson the last time you gave an computer program physical form?"

Tony sighed. "Adena, this is our chance! Jarvis has the protocols that Ultron doesn't. We can finally make an artificial intelligence that doesn't have Ultron's homicidal tendencies. We have to do this."

In a way, he was sort of right. Even as a team, the Avengers couldn't beat Ultron. If Ultron had managed to create an army of robots, that created even worse odds for my friends. We would need something on Ultron's level of intelligence and functionality if we wanted to defeat him and save the world from destruction.

"I think it's worth a go," Jarvis put in.

Something beeped in my pocket. "As do I," JT chimed in.

I watched as Tony's face lit up. "I'd forgotten about good old JT," he slowly drawled. "And since there are _two_ android bodies waiting for a mind to be loaded into them…"

I reached into my pocket and clutched my computer friend tightly. "No," I firmly said. "If Jarvis wants to be part of your crazy-ass scheme, fine; but I won't let you do it to JT. He's my friend."

My pocket beeped again. "Having two functioning androids would mean better odds in defeating Ultron," JT pointed out. "It would be for the greater good."

Shaking my head, I clutched him tighter. "No," I firmly repeated.

"Adena, he clearly wants this," Tony insisted. "And it really would be for the greater good."

"But JT isn't Jarvis!" I cried. "Jarvis has always been the more advanced system! You always said that JT was the less complicated of the two. What if he's damaged – or worse, _erased_ – during the transfer to one of those things? I won't risk him losing part of himself just for your experiments."

Sighing, Tony picked up one of his own hand-held computer devices and began pressing all sorts of buttons and applications. "Adena, I really hate to do this to you, but it needs to be done."

My heart sank. "What are you doing?" I asked, panicked, pulling JT out of my pocket.

"Since I'm the one who created him, I can also do a bunch of other stuff with his programming," Tony admitted. "I've never had the intention of messing with him, but this is important. I'm sorry, Adena."

I watched in horror as the device in my hand went dark and another glowing orb formed and floated next to the one representing Jarvis. Tony had transferred JT away from the device in my hand, without blinking twice.

Tears filled my eyes as Tony reached out to me, an apologetic look on his face. "Adena…"

I didn't want to hear what he had to say. Instead, I turned and ran downstairs to the rooms I shared with Steve. For the first time in years, I felt truly alone.

* * *

Sitting in the Jet, Steve tried not to push the engines to their limits as they headed for New York. He had come to some serious realizations, thanks to Wanda Maximoff, and he didn't like any of them.

After they had stopped the runaway train and saved innocent civilians, Wanda had pointed out that Tony might not destroy the bodies that Ultron had built. Like a good friend, Steve had come to Tony's defense, sure that the tech genius knew that taking apart those androids was the only move to make.

But he immediately realized that, when Wanda had said that Tony would do anything to "make things right," she had been right. Tony had built Ultron to try and make the world safe –he would try and build another one to protect the world from his previous mistake.

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda had said. "Where do you think he gets that?"

After that, Steve had been in a panic to get back to New York. If Stark built another machine, and it went bad, Adena, as well as the rest of the world, would be in grave danger.

Fortunately, when Stark had hired him, he'd explained to Steve that Stark Industries had a few hidden resources in each country, in case Tony had to secretly slip away without attracting attention. Steve had memorized the location of each of these hidden areas, so he knew where to go for help.

Once Wanda and Pietro swore to help him defeat Ultron, Steve allowed them to tag along for the trip back to New York. Their first stop was a local car dealer who often supplied vehicles to Stark employees; Steve told them to charge the company for the SUV he chose. After loading the Twins inside, Steve drove them all to a private Stark airport, where a Quinjet was stashed inside a hangar. Steve didn't want to know how Tony had managed to stash a Jet in Korea without anyone knowing.

They had flown out several hours ago, and it would be several more before they reached their destination. Wanda was asleep on a cot, with her brother dozing off in a seat nearby, ready in case something threatened his sister. It sort of reminded Steve of all the times he'd done the same with Adena.

Thinking of his wife, he smiled a little and looked at his left hand. There, his wedding ring glittered under his glove, the gold pitted slightly from all of the fights he'd been in. He'd have to get it repaired soon.

Clutching the controls, Steve debated whether or not to push the Jet a little bit, to get a little more speed.

He decided to go for it. In his opinion, they couldn't reach New York fast enough.

* * *

AN: Review?


	10. New Team Players

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Here's the next chapter, with obvious differences from the film and a few familiar faces. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review. Thanks.

 **Chapter 10: New Team Players :**

I managed to cry myself into a fitful sleep, only to be awakened by some sort of faint beeping on the computerized alarm clock beside the bed.

Rolling over, I rubbed the grit from my eyes and stared at the blinking icons. One was an image of the Tower; the other was clearly an incoming Quinjet, as well as an estimated time of arrival. Steve was coming back!

Not thinking twice, I ran for the bathroom for a quick splash of water to the face and a brush through my hair. I had just finished changing into some clean clothes when I realized that I hadn't been the one to set up an alert for incoming jets. Someone, or something, had done it instead.

Fearful that Ultron had gotten into the system again, I began to panic. In the end, I thought it best to disconnect the clock, before running to tell the others about it.

Just as I made to unplug the device, a message icon appeared on it. It was actually a blue swirl, which was JT's personal icon. I immediately thought that Tony had changed his mind about using JT in his experiment, but decided not to hold my breath. Instead, I pressed the icon, and listened.

"I know how anxious you are concerning Captain Rogers's return, Miss, so I took the liberty of engaging the tracking program on this console," JT's voice said through the small speakers. "Please rest well, Miss."

Trying not to cry, I let the message finish. As much as I wanted to weep for my friend and the possibility of losing him, I had other things to worry about. Steve would be back soon, and I needed to eat and pull myself together before he landed.

It didn't take long to do any of those things, so I had plenty of time to think about how I'd get revenge on Tony as I waited for the Jet to come in. I'd just started forming a pretty good list of revenge plots when I arrived at the hangar, a few seconds ahead of the Jet. When the hatch came down, I ran towards it, only to freeze in my steps at the sight that greeted me.

Coming through the open hatch was Steve, closely followed by Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

Desperately wishing for a weapon, I wondered how far I could run before they stopped me. As I took a step back, Steve held out a hand, a look of absolute calm on his face.

"It's okay, Adena," he said. "They're on our side."

Crossing my arms, I glared at the siblings. "Bull shit."

Wanda stepped forward, her hands held up in surrender. "I know you don't believe him," she said, her voice soft and sad, "But it is true. I have seen what Ultron intends to do, and it is terrible. My brother and I wish to stop him as much as the Avengers do."

I still didn't buy it. This was probably a self-preservation thing for them. How convenient.

"It's more than just looking after ourselves," Wanda said, as though she'd heard my thoughts –which she probably had, given her abilities. "It's the entire world. Ultron wants to destroy it, and we cannot let that happen."

"We have friends, too," Pietro interjected. "We do not want them to die terribly, like our parents did."

"They helped save lives in Korea," Steve said, giving me a pointed look. "They helped save _me_ on that runaway train."

Damn it, he had me there. Barton had said that he'd left Steve on a train, but he hadn't mentioned the Twins. Still, it would be easy to check out their story –an incident like that would be all over the news, even a day later.

And we were running out of time. Tony and Bruce were no doubt almost finished with working on those two androids upstairs, and here stood three people who might be able to stop them.

"Well, if we're all suddenly being buddy-buddy," I sarcastically remarked, "Then there's something you should know."

* * *

Needless to say, Steve was pissed off at what I'd told him. He immediately ordered the Twins to follow him, and the four of us headed up to the lab.

We stalked into the lab just as Bruce was plugging a huge cable into one of the two chambers.

"I'm going to say this once," Steve declared, hefting his shield a little. "Shut it down."

"Nope," Tony said, walking over to a computer console. "Not gonna happen."

"You don't know what you're doing," Steve insisted, his voice firm but slightly urgent.

"And you do?" Bruce said, looking over at the Twins. "She's not in your heads?"

Wanda stepped forward, which I thought was rather brave and stupid of her. "I know you're angry-"

Bruce glared at her. "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you right now and not change color."

"Bruce, please!" I pleaded, "After everything that's happened, and everything that's happening now, you can't let Tony do this! Don't help him do this!"

"Everything that's happened is nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony snapped, looking between me and Steve.

I was so torn between screaming in rage and crying with fear that I had no idea what to do next. Lucky for me, I didn't have to do a thing, because Pietro did it for me.

In the course of about three seconds, the speedster managed to race around and disconnect every cable connected to the two pods, effectively putting an end to the two scientists' efforts.

"No, no," Pietro said, dropping the last power cord. "Go on."

At that moment, a bullet shot up through the floor, shattering the glass under Pietro's feet and sending him down to the level below. As Wanda cried out her brother's name, Tony made to try and reattempt loading Jarvis and JT into the two prone forms, but Steve wouldn't have it. Moving quickly, my husband tossed his shield, causing Bruce to dodge out of the way and Tony to pull back from his computer console.

However Tony was far from unprepared -he had one of his Iron Man armor gauntlets there, complete with pulse blasters. Using his mental connections to his armor, he had the glove on in seconds.

But I can be fast, too. And since Steve's shield hadn't returned to him, I did what any loving, devoted wife would do: I jumped in front of my husband to protect him.

My sudden move caught Tony by surprise, and to his credit, he hesitated to shoot. I should have been touched at the torn look on his face; but I was so pissed off, I didn't care about Tony honoring our friendship enough to not try and shoot me. The man had the balls to try and blast the man I love, and that was enough to tip me over the edge a little.

In fact, I was so pissed off at him that I stalked right over to where Tony was standing and punched him in the face.

That also shocked him, and while he clutched at his bleeding lip, I picked up a random object off of the desk and threw it at Bruce. I guess my anger had given me better aim than usual, because it drifted rather close to his head, causing him to let go of Wanda, who blasted him back with a bolt of red energy.

As I braced myself for possible retaliation (namely in the form of the Hulk smashing everything into dust), Thor appeared from nowhere. He took a brief glimpse around at all of us, and promptly leaped atop the chamber holding the purple and green android, lifting his hammer to summon a tremendous bolt of lightning to him.

Too late, I realized that Thor was using his power to channel energy into the pods in order to bring the androids to life. And since I was only human, I could only watch as the lightning funneled down into first the one chamber, then the other.

The instant the last bolt of lightning drained into the chambers, the purple android burst from the container holding him, sending Thor, who had been perched atop it, falling to the floor. I watched in fascination and fear as the newly born machine crouched atop its birthing chamber and slowly lifted his head, looking back and forth at all of us.

Before anyone could make a move, the android threw itself at Thor, only to be knocked clear across the room, towards the immense windows. Before he crashed through them, the android stopped himself mid-air, somehow managing to hover before the glass as he looked out at the city below.

Fearful of what Tony's new experiment might do, Steve retrieved his shield and leaped down to help Thor, who motioned him back. It was then that the android seemed to fully compose himself; intelligence and awareness shining in his eyes as he floated down to join the rest of us.

Setting his hammer down on a table, Thor went to meet the new life-form. The android looked a bit puzzled as he landed, his eyes resting on Thor as his feet hit the ground.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice eerily like Jarvis's. "That was…odd. Thank you."

After seeming to give Thor a once-over, the android somehow managed to materialize a cape for himself, one that looked remarkably like Thor's. If I hadn't been so worried about what might happen next, I might find his case of "cape envy" amusing.

"Thor?" Steve said in disbelief. "You helped create this?"

Thor gave him a slightly apologetic look. "I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all forms of life, and in the center is that." He pointed at the glowing yellow crystal or gem in the android's head.

While the others gabbled on about magical stones and other weird things I didn't particularly care about, I went over to the remaining chamber and touched it. The force of Thor's lightning had caused a panel of glass to shatter, giving me just enough access to touch the poor lifeless form inside.

It really was a magnificent piece of technology. Actually, I thought it was quite beautiful to look at; like a perfect human man, only with key pieces of anatomy excluded. The blue metallic layer that was the skin felt slightly warm, possibly from the sheer amount of energy that had been forced into it. The skin was also soft and smooth –it was actually pleasant to touch, and in spite of its appearance, it didn't feel metallic at all.

But as I looked at it, I realized that I had lost someone very precious. Thor had successfully activated one machine, but not the other. JT was gone.

"I'm so sorry, JT," I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek. "I should have stopped Tony from doing this to you. I hope you can forgive me."

Sniffing, I closed my eyes and bowed my head a little in respect. He may have been a computer program, but he had also been my friend and confidant. Heck, he'd even helped save my life a few times. I would miss him for the rest of my life.

A gentle, cool hand brushed my cheek, startling me a little. Figuring that it was Steve or another of the Avengers, I opened my eyes, ready to tell them that I was fine. Instead, I got a shock.

Rather than facing a familiar face, I found myself looking into silver-blue eyes that were clearly not human. I couldn't help it –I screamed, jumping back from the newly awakened android before me.

* * *

Hearing my scream, the other Avengers came running. Steve did an impossible leap so that he could tackle the strange form that still touched my face. In seconds, I was pushed back as Steve wrestled with the android, trying to subdue it and failing.

Finally, after several long seconds, the now living machine spoke. "Captain Rogers," it said in a deep, distinctly male voice, "I have no intention of harming your wife."

Steve stopped wrestling with it and seemed to be analyzing its face, searching to see if he was lying or not. I guess he must have thought it was telling the truth, because he pulled away, allowing the android to sit up and climb out of its pod to stand on his own two feet.

As for me, I was busy giving Blue Man Group a close look of my own. The face was strong, finely chiseled, with a perfect nose that wasn't too long, or too short. Being made completely out of metal and machinery, his head was void of hair, but it was odd the way the metal shifted and moved, like skin over muscle. He was also tall, like Steve, and just as well-built.

Blue-and-silver eyes looked at me, clearly doing his own analysis of the situation. "I apologize for frightening you," he said, his voice deep and rich. "I am afraid that, due to the less advanced programming of my previous form, it took a little longer for me to become fully active and aware."

I swallowed hard. "That's okay," I managed to squeak out as Steve came to stand beside me, arms crossed as he took up a protective stance.

So this is what JT had become? It certainly was a million steps above a handheld computer/phone. But was it still JT? Was Jarvis still inside that other android, which stood nearby, watching?

The other android approached, and I could see that he had changed coloring somehow. Instead of being just purple and silver, he how sported purple skin, a green sort of clothing or covering, and the cape. I had no idea how he'd changed his appearance, but frankly, I wasn't ready to ask that yet.

I took a deep breath. "So," I said awkwardly, "Are you guys still Jarvis and JT?"

The purple one looked to the blue one and shrugged. "I am not Ultron," he said, "But I am not Jarvis, either. I am…myself." He looked a little thoughtful. "And I suppose, since we were both created using much of the same materials and were both brought to life by Thor, then I suppose we are brothers; perhaps even twin brothers."

The blue android nodded his agreement. "We are indeed. But unlike my older brother, I have not had any part of Ultron's consciousness downloaded into my matrix –therefore, I am more JT, but not. I am also unique, not only because of what I am, but also because I am different even from my brother."

That was a little confusing for me, but then, I was having a very rough week so far. I chose to go with it for now, and ask a bunch of questions later. Though, I did have a question that was, I felt, rather important.

"So, what do we call you?" I asked, looking between the two of them. "Since you aren't what you used to be."

The purple android tilted his head in thought. "I am the product of two visions: one of Ultron, the other of Thor. I believe I shall call myself Vision."

Well, that was straight to the point, and quite literal. "Okay," I said, looking over at the blue fellow. "And you? What would you like to be called?"

He appeared to think about it, though instead of tilting his head, he looked down. "I would rather you name me," he said. "I have nothing to base myself on, besides what I used to be; and I am not that anymore."

I looked him over, and decided on the first thing that popped into my head. "Cyan," I said, earning looks of confusion and disbelief from the others.

"You're naming him ' _Blue_?'" Tony asked incredulously. "You are _literally_ naming him after a shade of blue?"

"But it sounds better than 'blue,'" I insisted. "Right? I mean, how many people even know what that word means, anyway?"

The newly dubbed Cyan gave a slight smile. "It is what I am," he said. "And it does sound pleasant."

Tony threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine; Cyan it is." He dropped his hands. "And now that that's settled, we need to get ourselves together so that we can go to Sokovia."

Now it was my turn to stare at him. "Why there?"

"Because that's where Ultron is," Barton announced to me. "And it's where he's got Natasha."

I nodded. "Okay then; we're off to Sokovia."

Steve opened his mouth to protest, but was halted by someone knocking on a wall nearby. Turning, we saw Richard Cooper, of all people, standing there, a smile on his face.

"Man, just when I thought the world couldn't get any weirder, you guys prove me wrong," he said, grinning as I ran to give him a hug. I hadn't seen him since he'd joined the CIA over a year ago, but he was still the same, though I could see a few stray grey hairs on his head. They must have had him working extremely hard, for him to have those.

"Sorry to bust up your party, but Fury called and asked me to bring Mrs. Rogers to him," Richie said, giving me an apologetic smile. "I know you probably want to go with your husband, Adena, but Fury really wants to see you. He wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

As angry as I was at being separated from Steve, I knew Richie was right. Fury wouldn't ask this of me if it wasn't important; and if he had something for me to do, I could only hope that it would be something useful, to help the people I cared about as they went to fight Ultron.

Turning towards my husband, I tried not to roll my eyes as he threw Richie a glare. Even though it'd been over a year, he apparently still remembered that Richie had once had a crush on me.

Walking over to Steve, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him. "Don't do anything stupid," I reminded him. "And don't you dare get yourself killed."

He smiled and kissed me back. "I'll see you soon. Be safe."

"Likewise," I whispered, trying not to cry as I pulled away.

I managed a quick 'see-you-later' with my friends before letting Richie escort me down to the apartment I shared with Steve. There, Richie told me to hurry and pack a small bag with whatever I thought I might need for a few days.

After I finished, we headed to the jet hangar. There, a Quinjet waited, though it was rather different than the ones the Avengers used. My former neighbor led me into the plane, and while I buckled in, he ordered the pilot to take off.

As we left the Tower, I let my tears flow, not knowing how many of my loved ones would survive the upcoming battle.

* * *

The minute Adena left, Steve tried to hold himself together. He hadn't wanted her to go (especially not with Richard Cooper, of all people!), but if Fury had sent for her, then at least he knew she would be okay. Fury would never let anything happen to Adena.

But even now, there was still a lot on Steve's shoulders –namely the future of humanity.

Still, just knowing that Adena was out of harm's way was enough to lift his spirits. She was safe, and she needed him to succeed and come home to her, just as he'd always done. He had no intention of letting her down now –or ever.

* * *

AN: So, for JT's new voice, I decided to base it on Benedict Cumberbatch's fantastically deep, reverberating voice, which I love so much. I know that he's going to be Dr. Strange, but his voice and accent might be different in that film, so I'm going to go with it. Anyway, please be kind and review! Thanks!


	11. Sokovia

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Sorry this is later than usual; it was a bit difficult to write this scene from the movie, since a ton of stuff was going on. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review. Thanks.

 **Chapter 11: Sokovia :**

The flight to Fury's location seemed to take forever.

To his credit, Richie did his best to distract me by telling me everything he could about his work in the CIA. It was interesting, and I really had been curious about how he was doing; we had mostly communicated by e-mail, and only every few months.

But once I'd heard all the news from Richie, I was back to being bored –and being bored meant worrying about my friends. Everybody knew I was the worry-wart of the group, which was why they tended to keep the details of their missions from me, unless I insisted that JT or Jarvis tell me everything.

' _But now there is no JT, and no Jarvis_ ,' I reminded myself. ' _They're completely different now_.'

It was still so weird, knowing that JT, who I'd relied on for so long, now had a body and a different personality. He was an actual person, with the ability to walk, talk, and experience everything humans took for granted.

' _Hell, he probably has superpowers, too, since that Ultron built him_ ,' I realized. I had no idea what those powers might be, but if he did have some, I hoped that he'd put them to good use, helping the Avengers.

"Here we are!" Richie exclaimed, looking out the window. "Come see, Adena."

When I looked out, my jaw dropped. "Where the hell did they get _that_?"

* * *

Once we landed, I couldn't help but look around. "Where the hell did Fury get a Helicarrier?" I asked Maria Hill, who had come to meet us at the docking area.

She smiled and shrugged. "Need to know," she calmly said, much to my frustration. "Come on; he's expecting you."

As I followed her through the maze of hallways and passages, I noticed that this Carrier was exactly like the one I'd met the Avengers on -it had the exact same layout, and was filled with SHIELD agents carrying various forms of dangerous-looking weaponry and tools. The only thing missing were the Avengers themselves.

"Maria, why am I here?" I said, slightly out of breath as I tried to keep up with her brisk pace. "And what do you guys plan to do with this thing?"

That's when we reached the bridge of the ship, where Fury himself stood in the midst of a bustling mass of agents. He called out orders even as he looked at the view screens in front of him, his gaze going from one to the other so quickly, it made my head spin.

When he finally caught sight of me, Fury motioned for me to join him. I got to his side just as he gave the order for the hovering Carrier to keep heading to Sokovia.

"Sorry to pull you away from your friends, Adena, but I figured the last thing Cap would want is for you to dive head-first into danger with them," he said, his tone not at all apologetic. "I figured if you were here with me, it might make it easier to get you there…and make you useful."

I gave him look that screamed skepticism. "Useful how?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure I can find you something. Maybe running errands for the medics? They always need something, and helping people is something you like to do."

Well, that's just great. I was horrible around medical stuff – just the thought of blood, needles, and scalpels made me queasy. Even Bruce knew better than to ask me to help with his medical tools!

"Um, no," I firmly told him. "Medical stuff and I don't go well together."

Fury looked somewhere between disgruntled and amused. "We'll find something. Right now, I need you to take a seat here," he pointed to a chair near his, "And stay out of everyone's way."

Jeez, this was even worse than waiting in the Tower for the team. At least I'd had a way of keeping myself amused at the Tower. Here, I felt like I was being subjected to an adult version of a time-out.

Reluctantly, I took a seat and tried not to look bored.

* * *

As it turned out, I was more useful than I thought.

As he worked, Fury had me catch him up on what had happened since the Avengers and I had left Barton's farmhouse. I told him about them retrieving the new artificial bodies that Ultron had made Helen Cho construct using the Vibranium, and how Tony and Bruce had put Jarvis and JT into those bodies, so that they could help fight Ultron.

Needless to say, Fury was –well, furious. He didn't yell or curse, but the look on his face indicated that, when he next saw Tony, Fury was going to let some seriously nasty words fly.

"Two androids built by Ultron, and powered by Stark's own computer programs," Fury muttered as he signed an approval for one thing before ordering the helmsman to change altitude. "I can only imagine how _you_ feel about this, since he did use that little computer of yours for his stupid experiment."

I had to admit, I'd been pretty pissed off with Tony, but now that I knew that JT was in an actual body, I wasn't quite as mad as I had been. ' _I will still miss him, though, and if I'm being honest about it, I am still pissed off at the whole thing.'_

"Sir, we're coming up on Sokovia," someone reported. "But there's a problem. Half of the city is _floating_!"

Everyone rushed to various monitors, as well as the windows, to look. "Holy crap," Richie muttered as he took in the sight. "How the hell does that happen?"

"I guess Ultron was busier than we thought," Fury said, scowling. "Start loading the emergency rescue aircrafts, and get the medical teams ready. I also want every agent aboard to armed and ready for any possible attacks. I think we're going to have lots of company."

"Can this carrier hold all those people?" I asked, my stomach tightening with anxiety.

Richie put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "We don't know how many citizens the Avengers managed to evacuate before this happened. Hopefully, we'll be enough. It's a big ship, you know."

That didn't make me feel too much better. I'd only be happy if I knew that we had those people aboard and safe. But I suppose that saving most of Sokovia's people was better than saving none.

* * *

Things were not looking good. Ultron's forces were huge, and worst of all, half of Sokovia City was slowly rising in the sky, with hundreds of innocent civilians still on it.

Needless to say, Steve did not like their odds so far.

Looking out at the clouds that surrounded the huge sky-bound landmass, Steve wondered if Adena was alright. ' _At least she isn't here with us_.'

He honestly hadn't thought that things would get this bad. Natasha getting kidnapped had been worrisome; the team facing wave after wave of Ultron's robot army had been annoying and exhausting. But when the city started to lift from the ground, thanks to the several huge propulsion engines that Ultron had built, Steve had begun to feel the emotion that undid many men: fear.

Oh, he didn't fear for himself; as a soldier and seasoned fighter, Steve was used to being in dangerous situations. He merely counted this as one of them.

No, he feared for the hundreds of people stuck on this floating hunk of rock. They hadn't managed to evacuate even half of the people in the city before Ultron had made his appearance, and those left behind were going to die unless they managed some sort of rescue.

A quick chat with Stark only gave him worse news: they couldn't bring the city down without a lot of casualties, either in the city or on the surface of the planet. And as Natasha had just told him, there was no where for any of them to go.

"It's not a bad way to go," Natasha said with a sad smile. "Where else am I going to get a view like this?"

Then, through their communications systems, Steve heard a voice he least expected. "Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better." It was Nick Fury, and to Steve's complete shock, out of the white clouds rose, of all things, a Helicarrier.

"You like it? Just something I pulled out of some mothballs, with the help of some old friends," Fury said, his tone slightly amused and smug. "She's a little dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury," Steve said, grinning broadly, "You son-of-a-bitch."

"Whew! You kiss your wife with that mouth, Cap?" the former head of SHIELD joked.

"He sure does," stated a voice that Steve would know anywhere. "And if he wants to kiss me again, he'd better wash it out with soap."

Steve wasn't sure if he was angry or relieved that she was there. "Adena? What are you doing here?"

He heard her sigh. "Right now? Nothing much. I just came along for the ride, at Fury's insistence."

"Hang on, Cap," Fury instructed him. "Help is coming."

Steve felt a breeze to his left, and when the blue-and-silver blur stopped, Pietro Maximoff stood staring at the sight, a surprised and awed expression on his face.

"This is SHIELD?" the Sokovian asked, gawking at the hovering airship.

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be," Steve replied, some of his fears easing. Adena was safe aboard the vessel, and soon, there'd be a way of evacuating this floating hunk of rock.

Pietro nodded. "This is not so bad," he commented as the first of the rescue ships arrived.

* * *

The events that followed were scattered and grueling, as all around the rising Sokovia City, Avengers fought Ultron's forces and struggled to save the people stranded there.

Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton struggled to evacuate the citizens as quickly as possible. It was slow going, but thanks to Fury's foresight, there appeared to be almost enough space on the crafts for everyone, if they didn't mind squeezing together or sitting on the floor.

Guarding the fleeing evacuees was the stunningly blue Cyan, who raced to take down anything that attacked. Between the Carrier and the smaller vessels, Ultron's drones attempted to prevent any refugees from docking, but were blown apart by the combined efforts of War Machine and the Falcon.

But in spite of the need to rescue the people, it was clear that the Avengers needed to protect the core device, which would send the city crashing down to the planet's surface if activated. The problem was that they had to fight their way there.

At the site of the core, those with flight capability or super-speed arrived first, holding down the fort until the others managed to make their way over. Steve hadn't liked the idea of leaving the refugees, but with War Machine and Falcon helping out, they weren't completely unprotected.

As the team assembled at the core, surrounding the device in a protective circle, Ultron's army arrived in force. An epic battle soon took place, with each hero struggling to defend not only themselves, but the central device as well. Energy blasts, arrows, fists, magic hammers, and all sorts of other weaponry took down robot after robot, until Ultron's primary body joined the fight.

It was the Vision who pinned Ultron down, using the magical Mind Stone embedded in his forehead. With it, along with the combined attacks of Thor and Iron Man, the three were able to melt Ultron's primary, near-indestructible form into a puddle of metal and circuitry.

"Now it's simply a matter of destroying those that remain," Cyan told his brother, as well as the other Avengers.

Unfortunately for Ultron, as his automatons attempted to flee the city through the air, they found themselves struck down by the combined forces of War Machine, the Falcon, and the Vision. Between them, all of the machines leaving the city were turned into tiny bits of metal and shrapnel that rained down from the clouds to the earth below.

While the others focused on evacuating the rest of the civilians and taking down the last of Ultron's forces, Wanda Maximoff struggled to protect the device that kept the city afloat. Her twin, meanwhile, did his best to help save various citizens by carrying the wounded or handicapped to the evacuation aircrafts.

But in spite of Wanda's best efforts, a robot she thought destroyed surprised her, landing a laser blast into her back. While it wasn't a serious wound, it was enough to shock and subdue her for a critical moment, just enough time for it to clamor over the shells of its fallen fellows and up to the device.

As luck would have it, by then, all of the citizens had been loaded onto the escape crafts, and as the final vessels pulled away, the city began to hurl towards Earth. Many of the Avengers were safely aboard as well -but not all of them. Wanda had lingered a moment too long, dealing with the last of the robots who had come to eliminate her. Pietro had stayed as well, to help his sister, and if it had not been for the Vision sweeping in to perform a last-minute rescue, they would have died in the ensuing collapse of the city.

As the Maximoff twins and their rescuer shot away from the destruction, Tony Stark combined the energy of his suit's energy with the might of Thor's hammer to turn the falling city into rubble before it hit the ground. A huge amount of dust, debris, and other materials fell into the water that was building up in the crater where the city had once been, with very few injuries occurring in the areas around the crater.

And at the edge of that very crater, the Vision dealt with the last of Ultron's robots, and thus, with Ultron himself. With the final machine destroyed, the destructive AI created by Tony Stark was no more.

The battle was over.

* * *

While my friends faced Ultron, I struggled to help with the flood of refugees.

Walking through the cavernous landing docks that would have held Quinjets, I rushed to help set up beds and distribute food, blankets, pillows, and various other items to refugees as they came in. Ship by ship, they came, a never-ending flood that broke my heart.

To children, I gave a kind smile and some candy; to any adult who was weeping, wailing, or panicked, I gave a hug or a gentle touch on the shoulder. It was hard, looking at those sad, shocked faces, but it was the angry expressions that worried me most.

"Don't try and get close to anyone who looks angry," Maria Hill warned me. "Take Richie with you, and stay close to the medical or distribution groups. That way, you'll make a harder target if mobs start forming."

It didn't get that bad, though it was rough sometimes. Richie had to deal with a few furious angry men and women who demanded answers about the whole situation, but after a while, any potential troublemakers were pulled away by family members who quieted them down –at least for a while.

I was so lost in assisting others that I quickly lost track of time. It was Richie who told me to stop, go clean up and rest, before I collapsed. "You've been at it for hours," he said. "If you don't go on your own, I'll haul you out of here myself."

As much as I wanted to keep going, I knew he was right. After calling up Maria to give her an update on how I was doing, she gave me directions to a small set of rooms that had been assigned to me. I managed to make my way there, getting lost only twice, before I found them.

The minute the door closed behind me, I almost immediately felt the effects of my efforts. I realized that I was hungry, dirty, and drained, emotionally and physically.

To my immense relief, the bag Richie had ordered me to pack was off to the side, on the floor not too far from the doorway. The rooms were small, with a short entryway, a bedroom off to the left, a sitting area further in, and a bathroom to the right. I immediately grabbed my bag and headed for the bathroom for a quick shower and to change into something clean.

When I got out, dressed and still slightly damp, I saw a covered food tray on the desk in the bedroom. I lifted the lid and saw a tuna sandwich, a bag of chips, and a box of juice. It was like cafeteria food, but since the refugees were getting the same thing, I couldn't complain. The food was basic, but it was all that Fury's people could scrape together at the last minute.

I wolfed down the food, yawning occasionally, and barely managed to brush my teeth before falling into bed.

After what felt like a few minutes, I felt someone climb into bed with me, and almost panicked, fearing an intruder. But the arm that gently wrapped around my waist was one I knew very well –it was Steve, coming to join me.

Turning over, I snuggled against him, still half asleep. I heard him sigh, his arm pulling me fully against him. I could smell that he'd showered, too, and could also detect that he'd had a peanut butter sandwich instead of tuna.

I sighed and put my head on his chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulling me back to sleep.

* * *

Feeling Adena in his arms was more than enough to help Steve relax. He had wanted to find her immediately, but Fury had told him that she was busy helping the Sokovians, and he hadn't wanted to interrupt her.

Instead, Steve had stopped to eat, grab a shower, change into some random civilian clothes stored aboard, and checked in on his fellow Avengers. All of them looked as drained as he felt, and just as beat up –cuts, scrapes, and bruises abounded amongst the group. Pietro Maximoff even had a bullet wound in his left arm, where a Sokovian police officer had accidentally shot him. He was the only one who needed a visit to the emergency medical area, though Wanda had stuck by him the whole time he was being seen to.

After burning what he considered a fair amount of time, Steve got a visit from Maria Hill, who personally escorted him to the rooms assigned to him and his wife. Without waiting a single second, he nodded his thanks to his guide and went in, his eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room as he shut the door behind him.

There in the bed was Adena, sleeping peacefully. The sight was so invitingly familiar that Steve simply kicked off his shoes and climbed in, his arm automatically sliding around her as he settled into his side of the bed. She turned, but didn't wake as she snuggled into his embrace.

Sighing in relief, Steve pulled her close, lying awake just long enough to make sure she was still sleeping comfortably before drifting off himself.

* * *

AN: So, yeah, I totally changed things up by sparing Quicksilver, and tossing the Falcon in there a little bit. I felt that Sam didn't get enough screen time in the movie, and I just didn't like the idea of Quicksilver getting killed off.

I also know that there's the _**Captain America: Civil War**_ movie coming out next year, but from the rumors I've heard, I don't think I like the direction it's going. I honestly don't believe that Tony and Steve would try and kick the crap out of each other over a difference of opinion, not after all they've been through together as Avengers team members and friends. Sure, it might be fun to watch all the heroes in one movie, but the plotline (from the little I've read and heard about it) doesn't sit well with me.

Of course, it also doesn't fit in with my stories, considering I've had Adena draw the team together as friends and everything. I'll probably write my own story based _loosely_ on _**Civil War**_ , but it's clearly going to be _very_ different from the film, and is going to take a while to write. So, please be patient while I attempt to scribble out my own version after the movie comes out. In the meantime, I'm going to be posting a few short stories about Adena and Steve, to tide everyone over until _**Civil War**_.

Anyway, please be kind and review. There's not much left of this story!


	12. The Aftermath

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Here's the next chapter. There's an epilogue, and a short story or two that I'm working on, so keep an eye out for those. Enjoy, and please don't forget to review. Thanks.

 **Chapter 12: The Aftermath** :

In the weeks and months that followed the events in Sokovia, a ton of things happened.

First, there was arranging where the refugees would go, now that their homes were completely destroyed.

The fortunate ones whose homes hadn't been involved in the fight with Ultron were willing to take in their fellow Sokovians, but that had its limits –there were many more homeless than could be taken in. The United Nations, as well as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and a dozen other humanitarian agencies sent food, tents, medicine, and aid as soon as word hit the news stations about what had happened. There were now entire villages of tents scattered throughout the Sokovian countryside. In those tent villages, armies of engineers were busy working on how (and where) to put up a new city, or expand what was left of the previous one.

The refugee crisis was closely followed by angry rants from various nations and television networks, wondering how much of the events in Sokovia were the fault of the Avengers, and whether or not the team would need to be held accountable for the destruction of the city.

Not to make light of the tragedy, but it must be admitted that the team was pretty lucky the casualties had been so low. Only a few dozen people had been killed, either by Ultron's robots, or from the wounds they'd suffered when the city had risen into the sky. Considering the circumstances, things could have been much worse.

To try and make up for his part in the whole Ultron debacle, Tony was still doing his best to try and help Sokovia and its people, primarily by pumping funds to the country from Stark Industries and sending in his own humanitarian group to help with the refugees.

But in spite of his best efforts, that didn't stop people from being angry and afraid. There was even talk from some governments that the Avengers should be disassembled and banned from reforming again.

However, for every individual that claimed the Avengers were not necessary, there were others reminding the world about the Battle of New York and how the team had saved the world from certain alien invasion. Some countries insisted the team had protected them from terrorists and from HYDRA, so they would stand with the heroes, and even welcome them to their countries (to a certain extent).

Even though the world was divided on the matter, the team decided that as long as they were needed, they would remain together. This, in turn, led to a significant change for us all.

* * *

A few weeks after Sokovia, when the group had gathered in the safety of Avengers Tower, Tony made an announcement.

"I'm going to build a new base," he declared, surprising us all.

Staring at him, I blurted out the question that was probably on everyone's mind. "Why do we need a new base?"

Tony sighed. "People are upset, which is perfectly understandable. Having this huge Tower in the middle of New York City, with all sorts of cameras and attention focused on us, isn't something we need right now."

"Oh, I get it," I said, realizing where he was going. "We need someplace out of sight, and hopefully out-of-mind, so that people sort of forget about you until you go out and do some good in the world."

Natasha nodded. "It's sort of a PR move, but it's a pretty good one. Besides, we need someplace that _isn't_ obvious as a base."

Tony grinned. "Exactly!" he exclaimed. "And I've got just the place to do it."

A roll of blueprints was retrieved from a side table and unraveled, all of us gathering around to look at it. Tony pointed at the plans with a broad smile and said, "It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but I think it'll work just fine."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Tony's idea of a "fixer-upper" was very different from the average person's. I could only hope that he didn't go all-out and make things more complicated than they should be.

* * *

Several months after our meeting at the Tower, the Avengers' new base was finished. Tony's construction teams had worked non-stop to get it done to his specifications, and the base was rather impressive.

In what had once been an old Stark Industries warehouse, there was now a state-of-the-art compound. Inside were labs for the science and medical teams, led by Helen Cho and Dr. Erik Selvig, who was a friend of Thor's. They would not only try to develop new treatments for our injured people, but also create new defense weapons that could be used in various situations.

There was a large hangar for the Quinjets, huge garages for trucks, cars and SUVs, and a training area for the agents and workers that had transferred over from the Tower. Some of these were going to be a newer form of SHIELD agents, trained by Fury and Maria Hill, to do specialized tasks for the Avengers, or to be sent out instead of the Avengers, if the task didn't seem too dangerous.

Underneath the main building were apartments for the various Avengers, where they could rest and relax before going elsewhere. In a second building was a training arena built especially for the Avengers, far away from the main structures, since they tended to play a lot rougher than the agents did. I knew for a fact that watching Vision and Cyan practice their abilities made for some interesting viewing.

I smiled at the thought of the two 'tech brothers.' Vision had a great many abilities that seemed almost impossible to fathom. By changing his density, he could fly or float through the air, and phase through solid matter. He could also shoot tremendously powerful laser fire from the gemstone in his forehead, as I'd seen him do when fighting Ultron.

Cyan was much more limited. The tall, broad-shouldered android could fly and hover, like Vision, but he couldn't phase through matter. Like his brother, he was incredibly strong, and his skin possessed a fair amount of Vibranium, making him impervious to most weaponry. A few of the agents hired by Maria and Fury were uneasy about having him aboard, but even though he hadn't handled Thor's hammer like Vision had, Cyan had more than proven his worth during the fight with Ultron. The Avengers were more than happy to allow him onto the team.

The thought of an android being worthy of Thor's magic hammer still got me laughing, weeks after Steve told me about it. Since I'd been so worried about JT/Cyan, I had missed that particular event at the Tower. Steve hadn't wanted to tell me about it, since he knew I'd tease everyone about it when I found out. For the most part, he was right; whenever someone brought it up, I struggled to keep myself from laughing. But the subject was being debated so often, I was beginning to find it more annoying than amusing.

Looking over at the Avengers' financial backer, I tried to stay focused on everything Tony was telling me about the base as we walked the halls. It was my first time here, though Steve had made numerous trips to see how the construction was going.

Steve, meanwhile, had donned his Captain America outfit, since he felt that whenever he was at the base, he should be outfitted, in case they were called out on an emergency. I only agreed to let him do it because he swore that he wouldn't sleep in it.

"I also put a giant ' _A_ ' on the top of the building," Tony said as I walked beside him. "You know; the insignia of the Avengers."

I gave him an incredulous look. "Seriously? I thought the main idea was to make this base more subtle than the other one? Why don't you just draw a big target on the roof, or put up signs that read, ' _Secret Location of the Avengers_ ,' with arrows pointing at us? That sort of thing is just asking for someone to attack or rob us, or for fans to track you guys down for photo ops or autographs."

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. "Don't worry so much," he said, as Steve and Thor chuckled. "There's state-of-the-art satellites watching from space, and the security system is the best I could come up with. Not even a fly could get in here without someone knowing about it and taking it down."

I shrugged. "I'm just saying."

Electing to ignore me, Tony started talking to Thor and Steve as we walked down a hallway. The subject of The Vision popped up, and as Steve wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me close as we walked, I tried not to stare at him. Steve always did look good in his Captain America uniform.

"We're dealing with something new," Tony was saying, catching my attention.

"The Vision is artificial intelligence," Steve replied, looking thoughtful as he walked.

"A machine," Tony eagerly agreed.

"So it doesn't count?" Steve asked, his tone a little too eager.

"No," Tony flippantly told him. "It's not like a _person_ lifting the hammer."

"Right!" Steve stated, still holding me close. "Different rules for us."

Tony nodded. "Nice guy," he admitted, "But artificial."

"Oh, jeez," I huffed, elbowing my husband in the ribs. "Not this again! Didn't you guys settle this already? The Vision lifted the hammer because he was literally born five minutes before touching it! He had no experience doing right or wrong, so the hammer let him pick it up!"

"But-" Tony tried to protest, only to hold up his hands in surrender when Thor gave him an exasperated look.

"He can raise the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone," Thor said firmly. "It's safe with The Vision –and safe is in short supply."

Steve looked thoughtful. "But if you put the hammer in an elevator…"

"It would still go up!" Tony chimed in, looking optimistic at the theory.

"Elevator's not worthy," Steve insisted as I elbowed him again.

Thor smiled and clapped a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'm going to miss these talks of ours."

Tony grinned back. "Not if you don't leave," he hinted in the same not-so-subtle tone he'd been using for weeks, ever since Thor had declared his desire to go back to Asgard.

Our very tall friend smiled and motioned for us to keep walking. "I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth Infinity Stone to surface in the last few years. It's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game, and making pawns of us. And once all these pieces are in position…"

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony asked jokingly.

Steve gave me a protective squeeze, his face slightly worried. "You think you can find out who it is?"

"I do," Thor said confidently. "Besides this one," he gave Tony a friendly smack in the ribs with his palm, "There's nothing that can't be explained."

Looking over at me, Thor stepped forward and took my hand in his, smiling kindly the whole time. "Adena, I thank you for your kindness towards me during my time here. Your caring, strong heart is like that of my late mother, Queen Frigga."

Touched, I blushed at the comparison. Thor had told me a little about his mother, who had died protecting his beloved Jane Foster on Asgard from a dangerous enemy. To be likened to her was a big honor for me.

"Thank you," I said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Please give our regards to your father, and don't forget to send word of what you discover about the Stones."

Thor placed a chaste kiss on the back of my hand with a bow. "If you would kindly keep an eye on Jane while I am gone, I would be most appreciative of it."

"Consider it done," I agreed, feeling a little teary. "Be careful out there. Space is pretty big, and probably dangerous."

"Very dangerous," he agreed, the grin he wore indicating that he was ready for that kind of adventure. "But I shall not be alone in my quest, so you need not worry."

Steve looked at me and smiled. "It's what she does."

With one final nod, Thor took several steps back and raised his hammer, looking up as if giving some sort of signal. A beam of rainbow light shot down from the heavens, and in an instant, he was gone, leaving a huge smoking Celtic rune in the grass where he'd just stood.

I gaped, looking between the grass and the sky. "Now _that_ is cool."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on; you saw him do that years ago, when he hauled Loki off."

"Yeah, but it was different that time," I insisted. "He used the cube thing to get back to Asgard. This was far cooler –and prettier!"

Looking up at the sky, I let myself wonder what it was like to travel another world. Thor had told me about his home, and it sounded beautiful. I envied Jane for having the chance to go there and see what it was like. Maybe, when I next met up with Thor, he'd let us take a trip there.

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance," Tony complained as he turned and led us to the road leading up to the base.

A sleek orange sports car pulled up on its own, driven by Tony's new computerized assistant, Friday; a female voice this time, with an Irish or Scottish accent, and a rather playful attitude. She was the opposite of Jarvis in every way, which I felt was a good thing. There had only been one Jarvis, and there was no replacing him.

The same could be said about JT. I missed him very much, though Cyan was quickly becoming a friend. He'd decided that, as long as there was danger in the world, he was going to try and protect me, which was okay with Steve. And since he'd once been JT, Cyan knew everything about me, from my favorite foods to my moods, so he was often ready to help with anything I needed. Old habits are hard to break, I guess, even in new forms.

"I'm going to miss him, though," Tony said a bit wistfully as the car door opened. "And I know you're going to miss me. There's going to be a bunch of tears flowing soon, if I know Adena."

Rolling my eyes, I reached out and hugged him. "Yes, Tony, I'm going to miss you," I retorted. "But you never said _why_ you're leaving the team."

He sighed and gave me a tight hug. "It's time for me to tap out," he said, squeezing me a bit. "I think I'll take a page from Barton's book. Maybe I'll build Pepper a farm, someplace safe where no one comes calling or tries to blow it up."

I heard Steve chuckle a little. "You, living the simple life? I don't think you could manage it."

Pulling back from Tony, I gave him a broad grin. "And I don't think Pepper would like living on a farm. She might like it for a week or two, like a vacation, but not long-term."

My billionaire friend sighed. "Yeah, I know. Well, you two love-birds should try getting started on that so-called 'quiet life' for yourselves."

Steve and I exchanged a look. "I don't think 'quiet' is in store for us," Steve declared as he put an arm around me. "But maybe someday, we will."

Tony gave us a mock salute as he jumped into his car, the window rolling down as he revved the engine. "Oh, Adena, I forgot to give you this."

I accepted the object and felt my heart sink a little. It was the pocket device that had once been JT. I hadn't touched it since the day Tony created Cyan.

As my fingers brushed the front of the screen, it lit up. "Hello, Mrs. Rogers," it announced in a light, male British voice. "I am Sunny, your new personalized advanced computer system."

I wasn't sure how I felt about this. The voice was a different from JT's, and a bit more chipper, but I still missed my old friend. ' _Well, I guess I could try it and see how I like it, I suppose_.'

Looking at Tony, I smiled. "Thanks, Tony. I appreciate it."

With a final wave, Tony sped down the drive, leaving me and Steve alone on the grass.

* * *

"It's too bad Barton decided to retire," Steve casually remarked as we walked back inside. "I hate losing another team member."

I noticed that he didn't mention Bruce specifically. The shy, sweet doctor had slipped out of Avengers Tower one night, leaving behind a note that said he needed peace and quiet to think about some things. The note had indicated that he would return, but that likely wouldn't be for a while.

Even though she didn't show it, Natasha was crushed –I knew she had been hoping to take things a bit further with Bruce. The group was also upset with his sudden departure, and I silently hoped that he would return someday soon.

But like Thor, Barton had discussed leaving, and had an equally good excuse for departing. Clint had wanted to be with his family, and with three kids, he and Laura would definitely have their hands full. We all sent him off with good wishes, and a few tears (mostly from me), but it was for the best. In fact, I'd sent him with gifts for all his kids, including his newborn son.

In a strange move, Clint had named his son Nathaniel Pietro Barton. It seemed Pietro had saved Clint from being overwhelmed by some of Ultron's forces, and to thank him, Barton had decided to (sort of) name his newest addition after him. Barton had even suggested putting Pietro on the team, effectively ending any animosity between the two –an enmity that I didn't understand, but was very glad had come to a painless end.

As Steve and I made our way through the base, we came upon Maria Hill, who handed Steve a computer tablet. "We have a situation," she said, looking between him and me. "Weapon smugglers trying to sell some goods to a Columbian warlord. The others are waiting in the hangar."

She looked over at me. "We have a computer set up in the control room, where you can sit and watch the mission, if you want."

In my pocket, Sunny chimed in, "I am ready to link to the base's central computer systems and orbital satellites, so that you can keep track of the situation. Mr. Stark has installed all of the necessary programs into my memory core."

Steve sighed. "Then I guess it's time to go to work," he apologized to me. "I'll try and be back in a couple days."

Rather than stay behind, I walked with him to gather Natasha, who was staring at a wall. Since Bruce left, she'd been lost in her own world. It was hard to see her like that, even if she tried hiding her feelings. I think the only thing that cheered her up were the photos and videos Clint sent her of baby Nathaniel.

"Nat?" I called to her. "Time to get a party started."

She looked over and smiled. "Fine with me. My skills are getting all rusty, waiting around."

"You, rusty?" I exclaimed in mock disbelief. "Not a chance!"

She chuckled and followed Steve and me to the hangar, where Vision, Cyan, Wanda, Pietro, Sam and Rhodes were waiting for us. Looking at the new Avengers team, I felt a bit apprehensive. Hopefully, they'd learn to work together, like the previous team members.

' _With Steve and Natasha leading the way, I think they might work out just fine_.'

"Avengers!" Steve called, getting their attention. "Assemble!"

* * *

AN: Only the epilogue left, which I'll post in the next couple days. Please review!


	13. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nothing associated with _**Marvel, Captain America, the Avengers, etc**_. Only original characters and ideas are mine.

AN: Here's the epilogue. As I've said previously, it's a long way until the third Captain America movie (which means an even longer wait until my next Adena/Steve story), but between now and then, I'm going to put up a few short stories, to tide everyone over.

In regards to other story ideas: I'm afraid I don't have one as of yet. There are some plot bunnies forming, but none of them are sticking, so I might just wait a little while before starting another, whole new story.

Thanks so much to everyone for reading, and many more thanks to reviewers. See you guys at the next fic!

 **Epilogue** :

Several months later:

"Why did Sam call us again?" Steve whispered as we quietly made our way through the halls of the base. At this hour, only a skeleton crew was on duty, and we didn't want to disturb those that were trying to sleep.

In a new procedure that Steve, Fury and Natasha had come up with, only two or three Avengers would be kept on-duty, for one or two weeks at a time. This would allow the others to take a break, or return home for a little while, unless there was an emergency calling everyone in. Everyone had their own apartments in New York, even Wanda and Pietro. Actually, the Twins had their own living space outside New York, where they were trying to live quietly –or as quietly as people with superpowers could.

After the Avengers team had settled into their new base, it had taken me ages to get the Twins comfortable with their new situation in life. Wanda had been the hardest. She sometimes had difficulty being around large groups of people, due to her telepathic abilities, and occasionally fell into a bit of a panic attack. Pietro did his best to help calm her, but for some reason, Wanda found being around me to be the most comforting.

"I've never had a real female friend my age," she admitted one day, during a party at the old Avengers/Stark Tower. "I love Pietro, but he is so active and his thoughts are in such constant movement, it's almost chaotic. You are like a calm lake, compared to his tornado."

Then she smiled and said the sweetest thing. "Besides, you are nice to be with. You make me laugh and feel happy. I have not had that for a long time." After that, she was a constant visitor to our place, if only for some peace and quiet.

The others, for the most part, were able to settle comfortably into their new roles. In fact, the only ones who didn't require "adjustment periods" were Vision and Cyan. When they weren't at the base, absorbing as much information as they could about human habits and acceptable behavior, they retreated to Stark Tower, to talk with Tony and work on their abilities.

This week, it was Sam's turn to keep watch at the base, and just this morning, he'd called and asked us to meet him at the base for an urgent talk. He hadn't contacted the others –he wanted to talk to Steve first, and let him decide if it was critical enough to fill in the rest of the group.

At the door that led into Sam's rooms was Sam himself, shifting anxiously from one foot to the other. When he saw us, he waved us in and proceeded to sit us down at his dining table. After we'd all sat down, hot cocoa was served, and a plate of sandwiches set on the table, right along with a computer tablet.

"So, I have something I _really_ don't want to tell you," Sam confessed, fiddling with his cup of cocoa. "But I have to, because I know that you'll be mad as heck if I didn't."

He handed us the tablet. "Watch the video."

Steve waited for me to bring up the video, and the two of us did as Sam asked. When we finished, we looked at our friend, unsure about what we had just seen.

"So," I said, gently putting the tablet down, "There's a guy who has some sort of technology or ability to shrink at will."

"What did he want?" Steve demanded, shifting into Captain America mode.

Sam sighed and sat back in his chair. "He said he wanted to borrow a piece of technology that would help him save the world."

I blinked at him. "Okay," I drawled out, "Though, saving the world is the Avengers' job."

"Hey, I wasn't exactly given the chance to ask him any questions," Sam protested in his defense. "He told me _that_ part on his own. The rest of the time, we were too busy fighting for me to ask anything else."

"So how did he beat you?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "He shrank, got inside my wing suit and pulled apart the circuitry. Took the techs three days to fix the damage and make sure everything was running right."

Then he smiled. "What really surprised me was that the dude actually introduced himself. Said his name was Scott, but he also called himself ' _Ant Man_.'"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Well, that's helpful," he said sarcastically.

Now Sam was starting to look smug. "It helped, though. I contacted a few people I know, and they helped me track him down through _his_ contacts. The guy's name is Scott Lang, and he's a former crook. Apparently he's associated with a former SHIELD scientist known as Hank Pym, who was around the same time as Peggy Carter and Howard Stark."

I nodded. "Well, that's something I can look into. Maria gave me access to a lot of secret files that weren't on SHIELD's server, so I can probably come up with something helpful."

"Ant Man," Steve muttered. "You know, having someone with that kind of technology might be useful. We might want to contact him and invite him to join the Avengers."

"Whether he'll do it or not is a subject for another time," I stressed. "Remember that trip we're supposed to go on?"

Sam smiled. "Oh, you're finally going on vacation? It's about time!"

"Okay, enough of that," Steve said, waving Sam's words aside. "I'll take Adena on our vacation as long as Sam promises to keep an eye on this whole Ant Man situation."

"Done deal, Cap," Sam said with a mock salute. "You two go enjoy yourselves, and I'll hold down the fort."

I gave Steve a smile. It was time for us to have a week or two of the "quiet life."

* * *

AN: I'll post a short story soon. Please be kind and review?


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